Cinema

For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.

THIS COULD BE THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP: After a chance meeting in an elevator, where they fell in love at first sight, Spencer (Ashton Kutcher, left) and Jen (Katherine Heigl) agree to get married and settle down together in the U.S. Soon after, Spencer’s old job in the CIA catches up with him when a series of assassins try and collect the $20 million bounty on his head. To find out how it all turns out, see the movie.

Killers: Kutcher and Heigl Star in “Spy Retires to Suburbia” Sitcom

Kam Williams

Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) is a CIA agent with a license to kill. The dashing international spy with 14 notches on his gun is staying at a luxurious seaside resort in Nice, France where he is preparing for another assignment. The daring sleuth’s job calls for him to scuba dive to a yacht docked nearby and attach an explosive to a helicopter on the boat’s deck so that he can detonate the bomb remotely once the chopper is airborne.

However, while he is in the process of carrying out his assignment, he meets Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) in an elevator and it’s love at first sight for both of them. Jen is a young Midwestern woman who’s vacationing with her parents. They are helping her recover after she was jilted by her boyfriend. Her alcoholic mother (Catherine O’Hara) and overprotective father (Tom Selleck) have been protecting their daughter from her many prospective suitors who are surrounding here wherever she goes.

Since Jen has been instantly attracted to Spencer, she agrees to have dinner with him that evening. The dinner blossoms into a whirlwind romance that leads to love and then marriage. Tired of the grisly side of his profession, Spencer welcomes this opportunity to leave espionage behind for a less eventful life in suburbia with the girl of his dreams.

After we find the couple cozily settled back in the States, the ominous warning from Spencer’s old CIA boss (Martin Holbrook) that no one just walks away from the Agency, bears fruit. Jen, who has just become pregnant, has no idea about her husband’s former line of work. However, when assassins start coming out of the woodwork trying to collect the $20 million bounty on Spencer’s head, he lets her in on the secret.

And so the plot thickens in the second act of Killers, a freewheeling farce directed by Australian Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde). This madcap sitcom combines the talents of Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, a well matched pair who are blessed with perfect comedic timing. The two generate as much screen chemistry as they do laughs, although they’re ultimately abandoned by the script when it turns a tad too farcical for this critic’s taste.

Nonetheless, the movie is worth seeing for the views of Southern France, as well as the badinage between the two lead actors that is reminiscent of the classic Doris Day-Rock Hudson exchanges in films like Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964).

Very Good (2½ stars). Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, and violence. Running time: 100 Minutes. Distributor: Lionsgate Films.

For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.

Return to Top | Go to Music and Theater Reviews