Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

One of the best comedy duo's ever!!! Chase & Aykroyd are perfect together & absolutely hilarious, love Chevy Chase & love Dan Aykroyd so much these guys are true comedy legends & it shows in this feelgood fun filled adventure as those 2 goofballs are sent on a spy mission & it's so much fun just so funny & the test scene & bootcamp training are absolutely hilarious comedy scenes!!! A cheer you up Happy fun comedy with 2 of the greats together having a great time & it shows on screen!!! Love this film & grew up watching it

Two bumbling government employees (Aykroyd and Chase) think they are American spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War."Spies Like Us" was met with mixed to negative reviews at the time of its 1985 release, though it has since been viewed more favorably and has developed something of a cult following in the years since. I cannot imagine this getting a negative review, though I understand why it might be mixed. This is obviously not the funniest comedy from either Aykroyd or Chase.I suppose the popularity has grown because there is something about 80s comedies that can't be replicated. Some would say a second-rate 80s comedy is better than many since then. Even if Aykroyd and Chase starred in something now (2016), it would come nowhere near the possibility it had then.

The essence of "Spies like us" is best captured in the scene where candidates take the exam for secret service. The two dead-beats, Chase's and Aykroyd's characters, approach it completely unprepared, save for the cheat-sheets and attitude. Their charade is painfully obvious to the exam supervisor, they know it's obvious yet carry on with it to the bitter end. When I saw this flick again, 30 years after I loved it as a kid, I felt like that supervisor: "Are they for real? Do they really think they can get away with it?". He wasn't impressed with their attempt at passing the exam, I wasn't impressed with their lazy attempt at comedy.Indeed, the key people involved don't appear they're even trying. There were four screenwriters in this and they still managed to underwrite the script. There are too few jokes, and many of them are just too dumb. Not funny, dumb. Like that whole training sequence, for instance. As if they put in all they had, and it was barely enough so they couldn't afford to throw the rubbish out.Then there are stars of the flick. Chevy Chase goes with his usual devil-may-care routine which is okay when script leaves him something to subvert. When he has nothing to do, he is unfunny. He is just squirming there, like a dog that waits to be taken out for a walk. On the other hand, Dan Aykroyd, who co-wrote the screenplay, acts all too smugly, winking at the audience that he's in on all the jokes. His delivery in the "doctor... doctor... doctor..." scene is a perfect example of ruining a gag you're supposed to deliver in a sincere, deadpan fashion. But Aykroyd doesn't want to be perceived as dumb by the audience. That's his problem in other films, too.John Landis topped them all by putting so little effort in the directing, I wonder if he was there at all. In that period his mind was probably more on trying to get cleared of that triple manslaughter charge than on putting together a funny film. Either that or he was too full of himself to care. After all he had so many hits under his belt already, "Trading Places" included. Nothing of his talent is visible here. Pedestrian camera angles, shots that could use a lot of trimming and giving too much freedom to principal cast. Many times I felt I was watching outtakes, when camera was left just rolling and nobody yelled "cut". Hell, almost every scene with Chase and Aykroyd looked like an outtake. The film plods most of the running time, picking up tempo only towards the end somewhat.All in all, too bad, because the rest of the cast have done their job and the premise had potential. The idea of two wannabe spies sent to USSR to serve as a decoy for two real spies on an important Cold War mission, where the wannabes end up saving the day instead of the pros, works both as a spoof of the genre and as a pure slapstick comedy. Ironically, you'll find more laughs and slapstick in the films they spoofed.

This saw the first pairing of comedians Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd (who later appear in 'Caddyshack II and 'Nothing but Trouble') in a John Landis successfully directed espionage/ Cold War comedy. What a choice of three to bring out the laughs, but I never found it to be the laugh riot that I was hoping. In the end it's a randomly transfixing buddy comedy in the vein of a Bob Hope/ Bing Crosby film (which the former has a sudden cameo in) that has two clueless undercover operatives used as foils to distract KGB from the actual operatives with an assignment. Landis loves his self-knowing, referential gags and Chase's dry style feels suitably catered to this, and Aykroyd complements the balance with his light touches. The timing is always on the mark. Plus let's not forget about the cameos of pals in for the fun including Frank Oz, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi, B.B King, Terry Gilliam, Martin Brest, Larry Cohen and Ray Harryhausen. Rounding off the entertaining performances was the beautiful Donna Dixon, larger than life Steve Forest, a sneaky Bruce Davison, slimly Jim Staahl and an attractive Vanessa Angel.The humour ranges from slapstick shtick to comically witty exchanges (Chase's often quick replies) and deadpan acts, as the equipped story is a comedy of errors led by two hapless individuals which would end up saving the day in an unlikely manner. It's a fairly amusing and offbeat concept, as it holds surprises, its fast momentum never lets it sit too long on the one gag. There such a variety to the comic silliness and it goes out on a bang. The crystal clear European locations are exquisitely used in shots, and adds considerably well to the large-scale adventure directed by verve from Landis.Landis would team up again with Chevy Chase a year later to bring us the even better '¡Three Amigos!' that would also star Steve Martin and Martin Short.On a need to know basis… good dashing, systematic fun.