Plot
Former CIA spy Bob Ho takes on his toughest assignment to date: looking after his girlfriend's three kids, who haven't exactly warmed to their mom's beau.

Release Year: 2010

Rating: 5.2/10 (11,642 voted)

Critic's Score: 27/100

Director: Brian Levant

Stars: Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Billy Ray Cyrus

Storyline
Former CIA spy Bob Ho takes on his toughest assignment to date: looking after his girlfriend's three kids, who haven't exactly warmed to their mom's beau. And when one of the youngsters accidentally downloads a top-secret formula, Bob's longtime nemesis, a Russian terrorist, pays a visit to the family.

Writers: Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer

Cast:
Jackie Chan - Bob Ho
Amber Valletta - Gillian
Madeline Carroll - Farren
Will Shadley - Ian
Alina Foley - Nora
Magnús Scheving - Poldark (as Magnus Scheving)
Billy Ray Cyrus - Colton James
George Lopez - Glaze
Katherine Boecher - Creel
Mia Stallard - Cute Girl
Maverick McWilliams - Chad
Quinn Mason - Carl
Margaret Murphy - Mom
Esodie Geiger - Principal
Arron Shiver - Scientist

Taglines: Part spy, part babysitter, all hero.

Official Website: Official site | Official site [France] |

Release Date: 15 January 2010

Filming Locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Opening Weekend: $12,877,043 (USA) (17 January 2010) (2924 Screens)

Gross: $24,268,828 (USA) (28 February 2010)

Runtime: 94 min

Trivia:
As it has happened in at least two more titles, the makers of the film sponsored a photo-manipulation contest in Worth 1000 (the well known photo-manipulation site), on which the participants were asked to create photo-realistic images of the world as if it were ruled by spies.

Goofs:
Continuity: In the very beginning of the movie, Gillian tells the older daughter to put on jeans, and dresses the youngest daughter in pink. While getting in the minivan, the older daughter is wearing a skirt and the youngest is wearing white.

Quotes:
Ian: Hey, how are you doing? I'm Ian. If I told you have a beautiful body, you hold it against me?
Cute Gymnast: Yuck!

Harmless Fun!!

Rating: 7/10

If you're looking for a decent, fun little movie you can watch with your family in a relatively painless fashion then you've come to the right place.

For some reason many action stars have supplemented their income by appearing in movies with kids. Maybe they are trying to widen their appeal from the hardcore action audience to the family friendly scene. Maybe they're getting too old to keep up with the pace of a full-on action movie. Maybe they have to pay alimony to 4 or 5 ex-wives. I don't know why they do it, but it's almost becoming mandatory for these guys to take on a kid or three as a side-kick and attempt to blend action and family fare.

And these attempts almost always suck.

Does anyone honestly want to see Vin Diesel try to relate to kids? Or Chuck Norris, the Rock or God help us, Burt Reynolds relate to kids? No way. Don't even start with me about Hulk Hogan. During Santa with Muscles I was terrified that he might not see a few of the kids and accidentally step on them. Suffice to say, these movies might help a star's sagging income, but they're usually a mediocre compromise between two often disparate genres at best.

This one is a little better. It's still "action-light" but I think it works because of the star, Jackie Chan. His character seems like a genuinely nice guy who wants to get along with the mandatory bratty kids. Vin, Hulk, Chuck, Burt and the rest, these guys play characters that you know would much rather be killing, crushing or sleeping with the enemy. Chan doesn't have that problem because of the types of characters he often plays. His lighter presence matches up with the tone of the movie and makes it seem ....hmm...not as weird and patently unbelievable and maybe even patronizing as other movies of this kind.

Basically Jackie plays Bob Ho, a Chinese secret agent on loan to the CIA. He retires so he can marry Gillian, a divorced single mom who is looking for someone reliable. Her kids don't really cotton to Bob though, so she decides to put her relationship with Bob on hold until they're OK with her marrying Bob. Bob is saddened but resolves to win the kids and his girl friend over.

Then, luckily, hi jinx ensue. One of Gillian's kids downloads some top secret stuff off Bob's computer and before you can say Boris and Natasha some evil Russians are in hot pursuit. After a variety of PG style mishaps Bob captures the bad guys and wins the day, the girl friend and the family. And like I said, it works because Jackie Chan doesn't seem shoe-horned into the role.

The action is lighter than most Chan movies but it is inventive and fun. The kids act a little more like real kids than Hollywood Central Casting pods. The youngest kid in particular seems like real 4 year old, goofy and light hearted. When she delivered the line" I don't wanna be a princess, I wanna be a cyboooorg!" I cracked up. I actually laughed more than a few times, which surprised me. As long as you realize going in that this is just very light family entertainment I think you'll be pleased.

Comments: