Having made a mess of the army in "M*A*S*H", Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould play with the world of espionage in "S*P*Y*S". The plot is a little confusing, but the tricks that they play make up for that. The best scenes are the car chase and the wedding. There's even a scene that seems a little prescient, as Gould's character mentions a NATO presence in Afghanistan.Overall, the bouncing around Paris gives the guys a lot to do, all of it very enjoyable. I think that the point of the movie is that Cold War-era espionage was such a joke that it might as well get this treatment in a movie. The movie got released in an era when a lot of movies focused on suspicion of the government ("The Parallax View", "Three Days of the Condor", etc). Clearly it can easily be the stuff of humor. Really funny.

This very 1970's spy comedy was clearly marketed 90% on the strength of the star pairing of Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, two of the coolest, hippest, "with-it" male leads of the decade (of the type who would only be used in supporting roles in our more conventional times). Unfortunately, they forgot to add a script to the mixture. The "plot" of "S*P*Y*S" is rambling and confusing at best. But that's not the worst thing about this film - the worst thing is how dismally unfunny it is. I mean, it is supposed to be a comedy, but you'd be hard-pressed to name more than 2 funny scenes within its 100 minutes. Only Remy Julienne's expertise with car stunts shines through. * out of 4.

SPYS is an aggressive laugh out comedy in the tradition of the old "Road" pictures that never really works. It has no real plot so to speak and relies on the chemistry of the lead actors of which there is plenty for its appeal. Wise cracks fly aplenty and barbs of witticism fill the air. This hit movie which was released in 1974 feels like a movie from the 80s. There is a certain fluidity of camera and mis-en-scene that MTV brought to the eighties movies that permeates the aurae of this movie. It feels like a 1985 movie SPYS and the likes that ruled the beat-box era. Laughs ring true after a very strong start but even a plot less seems or needs to deceive the audience into thinking it has a direction. The plot is silly if not confusing and just happens and the french actress Zuzou who was also a popular singer isn't very good. She just complicates matters. In all, not great but the ending is bitter-sweet and sharp on the money. You wish the movie itself had that kind of vive de joie.

S.P.Y.S (2 outta 5 stars)Pretty lame spy "spoof" that put a kibosh on the possibility of Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould becoming the greatest comedy team of the '70s. The guys are both great comic actors and they have loads of screen chemistry together. If you don't care much for either of these actors you will probably hate this movie... and if you are a big, big fan of either one of them... well, you probably still won't think much of it. Playing a pair of maverick secret agents forced to work together, they start out complaining and bickering but over the course of their adventure (some overly-complicated plot about assassinations, missing diamonds and foreign agents) they begin to get chummy. Sutherland and Gould have charisma to burn but the lousy, nearly joke-free script doesn't give them much to work with. I suppose if this has been a big box office hit they could have continued the franchise and gone on to bigger and better movies together... but, this tanked with audiences and I don't think they two have worked together since. Anyway, I have to add that I have always absolutely loved the last scene of the movie... as our two defeated heroes, in full-out charming rascal mode, skip off down a lonely road together and start singing:Oh, we don't know what's comin' tomorrow, Maybe it's trouble and sorrow, But we'll travel the road Sharin' our load Side by sideYou take it, brother! Through all kinds of weatherrrrr! Did You hear that, Lord? Whether the sky should fall Whether the skyyyyy should fallllll Just as long as we're together It doesn't matter at all...Great wrap-up... too bad about the first 85 minutes.