The Spy Next Door
Metascore
27 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 21
  3. Negative: 13 out of 21
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  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Eagan
    50
    Most of The Spy Next Door is pretty tired stuff from "Pacifier"-style slapstick to comic relief delivered by, of all people, erstwhile country star Billy Ray Cyrus.
  2. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    63
    The plot may be forgettable, but the execution is frantic and funny. The Spy Next Door is a movie that will bring smiles to kids - and their grandparents.
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    38
    Everybody knew to wait for the outtakes during the closing credits, because you'd see him miss a fire escape or land wrong in the truck going under the bridge. Now the outtakes involve his use of the English language.
  4. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    Chan has more chemistry with the kids than with Valletta, but the story is so insipid that it's likely to only sadden fans of the martial-arts icon and offer little enjoyment to its young audience.
  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    38
    The film’s so formulaic your 6-year-old will be ticking off the plot points as they lope by.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    25
    The makers of The Spy Next Door should give 50 percent of their profits to James Cameron for ripping off "True Lies." Let's see, what's 50 percent of nothing?
  7. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Jennie Punter
    25
    Chan's comedic gifts and still-nimble moves are wasted in a string of unimaginative household calamities and practical jokes.
  8. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Roger Moore
    25
    Limp and lifeless, this Next Door neighbor should be evicted to DVD.
  9. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    20
    The movie even has the nerve to start with a montage of moments from his better films, a bad idea that sets off an escalating tumble downhill.
  10. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    20
    The little action here will disappoint fans; it’s way too choppy.
  11. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    0
    Nobody of Chan's legendary stature should ever have to play second banana to George Lopez, and certainly not in a film that was already made five years ago with Vin Diesel (see: The Pacifier).
  12. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    40
    The outtakes are not all that great but still better than anything else in the movie.
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Lael Loewenstein
    40
    Chan struggles gamely to charm, but the picture's cartoonish jokes and misfired gags are likely to elicit more eye rolls than laughs.
  14. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    30
    That imperishable affability, that eagerness to please his Hollywood bosses, allows Chan to elude many of the indignities thrown his way in The Spy Next Door. It may also be the reason he says yes to a junky movie like this.
  15. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    30
    In middle age Jackie Chan can't keep coasting on boyish charm, as evidenced by this dreadful family comedy that does him no favors with its opening title sequence.
  16. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    42
    Chan’s anything-goes affability keeps the film from scraping bottom.
  17. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    38
    This is “True Lies” without the striptease or the Arab-maiming.
  18. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Amy Biancolli
    25
    A mostly inoffensive nothing of a film with one or two mild chuckles and lots of chop-socky commotion.
  19. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Wade Major
    40
    While it never quite rises above the problems inherent in the material, The Spy Next Door does shine in those moments when Jackie and his stunt crew are permitted to do what they do best.
  20. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    50
    There's nothing wrong with Chan's making a silly comedy for kids. But he's got more in him than grinning, nodding and falling down a lot. All he needs is a filmmaker who's ready to let him to make that leap.
  21. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Melissa Anderson
    40
    Immediately forgettable family entertainment, suitable for release only in the dung-heap month of January.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.7 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 30 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 12
  3. Negative: 5 out of 12
  1. grandpajoe6191
    3
    This is it. Jackie Chan ain't no star anymore. "The Spy Next Door" says it all.
  2. LordOFlibertY
    4
    WHY JACKIE DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE THIS **** ROLE AND RUIN YOUR REPUTATION. this movie was garbage, so many forced comedy lines and stupid useless characters… Full Review »
  3. ChadS.
    5
    Bob(Jackie Chan) and Jillian(Amber Valetta) are an item, lovers, to the utter dismay of the divorced woman's children, who complain that their neighbor is "boring", a "geek". To them, the mother could do a lot better, since this suburban mom is a total milf, and obviously, "so far above [Bob]." Conspicuous in its absence, as the kids read Jillian the riot act concerning her latest beau, is any mention of Bob's ethnicity. Since they don't address the very pertinent fact about this bespectacled man being Chinese, the moviegoer is left to interpret their bias against Bob as either being racially-motivated or not, since the "The Spy Next Door" is too innocuous to acknowledge this rupture in the film text. "The Spy Next Door" treats Bob's Chinese heritage like a secret identity, like Clark Kent keeping Superman under wraps until the time is right to tell Lois Lane. Chan, sporting black horn-rimmed glasses, in fact, resembles Kent, and quite pointedly, during a dinner scene with Jillian, takes them off when he attempts to tell her about his secret life as a spy. Also, this moment doubles as a reflexive move for the moviegoer, because it alludes to Chan's past glory as an action hero(practically a superhero of sorts to his fellow countrymen), a persona that eventually emerges from the trappings of this domestic comedy. It's no accident that Bob reveals himself at a Chinese restaurant, in which Jillian's kids are explicitly confronted by his true identity as a spy, and minority. Earlier in the film, they go through Bob's personal belongings at his home, but find nothing that addresses his otherness. The DVDs, the clothes, the overall decor of Bob's lair, confirm his "boring"-ness, and the post-colonial construct of the screenplay is preserved, for the time being. As a romantic lead, Chan does nothing more than trade chaste kisses and a brotherly hug with Valetta, which has the effect of making Bob seem vaguely asexual. Jillian's actions, are like the children's actions, which seem to be quietly dictated by Bob's nationality. The kids can't hate him because he's Chinese, and also, Jillian can't really kiss Bob for the very same reason.… Full Review »
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