I Spy Returns

This film showed us again why Cosby and Culp were the best action team in television history. The plot was simple and fun yet intelligent and timely. The dialog was fun as usual. And, Salli Richardson is worth a 10 by herself.

There is a throwaway line in an early episode of CROSSING JORDAN (David McCallum was a regular) where a curious female asks the Senior Pathologist (well played by Miguel Ferrer) what McCallum's character might have looked like when he was young? Without even a pause, Ferrer answers "Illya Kuryakin." Even for inside jokes, that was a doozy. Similarly, the spectacular series WANDAVISION did a better job of showcasing the 1950s than the actual 1950s themselves did. All of which goes to say, you can't go home again; and, if you are playing the nostalgia card, you had better have an ace up your sleeve. The problem with this nostalgia piece ... no aces. The original was a jewel of its era, not only fun to watch, but (as the PR pak said) all the locations were authentic so you got to see the world at the same time. (DANGER MAN did something similar, and it worked well too). This production tries hard but never even comes close to the original magic. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Yes folks, I agree that Bill Cosby and Robert Culp have both aged a lot, but that still doesn't mean it isn't a job seeing them again as everyone's favorite spies Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott. This time they are watching out for their kids and realizing theyre getting too old for this kind of stuff. Bill Cosby was the first African-American to be a star on a major tv show with I Spy (some Southern stations wouldn't even televise the show because of that). He and Robert Culp had such amazing chemistry and I always enjoyed their good natured banter. I always loved the action on the show and the exotic locales. They also had to quality guest stars everyone from Peter Lawford to Boris Karloff to Don Rickles to Carroll O'Connor and Gene Hackman. These two make a great team and after a few minutes its like the old magic is back and you forget that they are older, you will feel like your seeing two old friends again who just picked up where they left off. They have a wonderful modernization of the classic theme music at the beginning of the movie and a montage of old clips from the series.

My wife didn't catch the name of the movie when it started playing on Bulgarian national TV tonight. I checked the listings, and found something like "The Spy Comes Back". I started watching, and found Bill Cosby as some sort of aging spy acting foolishly. "Oh, no," I thought..."it's 'Leonard, Part 6'!" I was relieved to find I was mistaken, and the movie was "I Spy Returns". The relief didn't last long, though.

The premise is, Robert Culp and Bill Cosby are now much older, and their son and daughter, respectively, have joined whatever spy agency they worked for. The aging dads follow their kids around on their first field assignment to make sure they're safe. Hilarity ensues.

The movie stops dead during the long, long, long banter-and-bicker scenes between Mr. Culp and Mr. Cosby. And there's not much more to the story beyond the bantering and bickering. A few horribly choreographed action scenes (when you yell the single word "freeze!" at someone in Vienna, will they understand you're telling them in English to stop moving or be shot?), and bantering and bickering, and ...ummm, I can't think of anything else.

But that's the point of TV reunion movies, I guess: to see what the actors look like today, 25 years after they were in prime time. If there's actually a plot, interesting characters, strong dialogue, or even a semblance of intelligence, it's a bonus. "I Spy Returns" aims for the bare minimum, nothing more. Yes, Mr. Culp and Mr. Cosby have indeed aged, and no, there's no other reason to see this movie.

This flick is PRICELESS. I'm in the after glow here from watching it three times.

I'm taking back my rental and getting my own copy.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Culp & Cosby are really syrupy in love with each other in real life, because that's the sense I get from the whole project. Their chemistry is spot on and genuinely heart warming.

Cosby is credited as one of the Exec. Producers which means he partly bank rolled it, which is really nice, because it's really a lovely send off and tribute to a great, classic series and a rare chance for the actors to pay homage to Kelly and Scotty.

The humor is terrific. Culp and Cosby spend some quality time together--making fun of each other and their age mercilessly. But, in a sweet, affectionate way.

You feel all their history, and their regard for one another. Their initial meeting after 25 years is PRICELESS!!! The duo pokes fun at the way the spy biz and world has changed. Kelly's gone right along with it, adapting computers and gadgets while Scott has settled into his comfy professorship, complete with elbow patches on a tweed jacket. There are some cute gags which play upon Kelly and Scotty's style.

If Sheldon Leonard had planned this as a pilot for a new series, I think George Newbern has a James Spader thing going on. As Kelly's son he just didn't have the charisma to pull it off, but the casting makes perfect sense for the reluctant spy. I'd like to see Vincent Ventresca as the Kelly character, or Joseph Culp, who is the spitting image of his father. Salli Richardson is very good, but she's no Cosby replacement. But, that's immaterial. I just enjoyed the whole movie.

The dialogue is well written and the ad libs are always enjoyable. Even the villain, Jonathan Hyde as Cesar Baroodi, has some priceless lines.

There's a nod to the "locked room" scenarios that Kelly & Scotty always ended up in. They just kicked it up a notch and it gave them something to play off of. The Head of Field Ops just doesn't look so formidable under those circumstances.

Nobody loves and respects these characters and I Spy like Culp & Cosby. Watch and ENJOY the masters at work and play.