Movie Review: “The Spy Next Door”

Seen on: January 9, 2010

The players: Director: Brian Levant, Writers: Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer, Gregory Poirier, Cast: Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Alina Foley, George Lopez, Billy Ray Cyrus

Facts of interest: Brian Levant also directed "Are We There Yet?"

The plot: A former CIA spy has to babysit his girlfriend's kids and protect them from a bunch of weird terrorists at the same time.

Our thoughts: Brian Levant’s “The Spy Next Door” is a terrible film. It’s as dry as a family comedy can get, and it suffers mainly from a chaotic plot, monotonous story and a handful of poor acting performances. Children of a certain age may appreciate Jackie Chan jumping around the screen for 90 minutes, but I stopped caring after the first five minutes.

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Four more join Jackie Chan in 'Spy Next Door'

George Lopez, Billy Ray Cyrus, Amber Valletta and Katherine Boecher are the latest to join Jackie Chan in Brian Levant's new comedy "The Spy Next Door."

Chan plays a man who babysits his neighbor’s kids and ends up batting a bunch of secret agents after one of the youngsters accidentally downloads a secret code from the Web.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lopez and Cyrus star as two CIA agents, while Valletta plays the children's mother. Boecher is on board as a Russian operative.

Valletta's credits include "Hitch" and "Transporter 2." She will next star in Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine's "Game." As for Lopez, he most recently did some voice work in Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Cyrus will next be seen in "Hannah Montana: The Movie."

Chan recently starred in “The Forbidden Kingdom.” He also recently completed filming “The Shinjuku Incident,” an action drama about a Chinese immigrant who travels to Japan to follow his ex-girlfriend.

Jackie Chan is ‘The Spy Next Door’

Martial arts star Jackie Chan is set to star in Brian Levant’s upcoming action comedy “The Spy Next Door,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Spy” follows a man who babysits his neighbor’s kids and ends up batting a bunch of secret agents after one of the youngsters accidentally downloads a secret code from the Web.

Levant, whose credits include “Snow Dogs” and “Are We There Yet?,” is directing a script by Jim Greer and Jonathan Bernstein.

Although I pretty much hate the idea of Chan playing a badass babysitter, I have to admit I’m somewhat glad the project is not in development at Disney. If that were the case, we’d probably get to see another “The Pacifier” or “The Game Plan.”

Chan recently starred in “The Forbidden Kingdom.” He also recently completed filming “The Shinjuku Incident,” an action drama about a Chinese immigrant who travels to Japan to follow his ex-girlfriend.