(1971)
2
Craig Butler
One thing a spy comedy (or any comedy, for that matter) should never be is tedious, yet that's exactly what Catch Me a Spy is for most of its running time. One of many tongue-in-cheek spy capers that flowered in the wake of the phenomenal James Bond series, Spy packs in just about every spy cliché it can think of. This by itself wouldn't be bad, if the creators had come up with something clever or amusing or simply surprising to do with these clichés. Instead, they wink at their use, under the mistaken assumption that acknowledging a cliché will give them some sort of post-modern credibility and that the lack of invention will be excused. Things do pick up in the last 20 or so minutes, and the speedboat chase that ends the flick is a humdinger. But getting to that chase involves treading too much water. A high-powered cast is largely wasted. Trevor Howard comes across very well, and Tom Courtenay also has his moments. Top-billed Kirk Douglas actually does not have the star part, which is just as well; he's okay but nothing special in this role, and really isn't ideally cast. Marlene Jobert is the real lead, and she's fine but nothing more.
Catch Me a Spy on AllMovie
Catch Me a Spy (1971)
