Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid are OK as Jane and Jeff Blue in "Undercover Blues." But that's not saying much for a comedy. Their fight scenes and other antics invoke a smile, but the humor soon wears off with these repeated incidents. The film would fast fade into boredom but for one thing. It's not hard to notice that Stanley Tucci's character, Muerte, is what keeps this comedy caper going after the first 10 minutes. His is a very funny role that provides most of the laughter. And Tucci plays it to the hilt. Muerte delivers on his contracts – even if it takes years. The hit man is the only thing that keeps this film from being a flop.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Kathleen Turner was one of Hollywood's top A-list actresses. She appeared in a series of hit movies and was much in demand as a leading lady. She made a few duds, but her films had a high batting average, plus she was very beautiful and could really act. She had, and still has, true star quality.Unfortunately, "Undercover Blues", released in 1993, is a very typical spy thriller-comedy with nothing new to offer. Jane and Jeff Blue (Turner and Dennis Quaid) are soon-to-be retired spies who do the hackneyed "one last assignment" thing, along with their baby daughter. They do battle with an evil Czech agent (Fiona Shaw) and of course come out victorious after many dangerous situations.There's nothing new in "Undercover Blues" that I could identify. Different actors had done the same thing in dozens of previous movies. The main villain isn't really that interesting, and a dumb criminal (played by Stanley Tucci) has some funny scenes but that's it. The whole thing has a lackluster "paint-by-the-numbers" feel to it. The shining star in the movie is of course Turner, who steals every scene in which she appears. Dennis Quaid is okay, but almost any actor with his qualifications could have taken his place.After the mid-1990s, Turner's career took an abrupt downturn due to illness. Her days as a leading lady are over, but she does pop up from time to time in films and on television. "Undercover Blues" is silly and unremarkable, but it does showcase Turner in one of her last roles during her star period. It's worth a look for her appearance alone.

Every few years, someone tries to capture the spirit of those black-and-white screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood's Golden Age. "Undercover Blues" is a brave attempt and reasonably well-acted, but...Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner as a couple? No way. Kathleen Turner is a fine actress but she is visibly older than Quaid. Yes, she's pretty sexy in "Undercover Blues" but her chemistry with Quaid is more like the Anne Bancroft/Dustin Hoffman chemistry of "The Graduate".Stanley Tucci is also a fine actor. Unfortunately in this film he is stuck with a feeble one-joke two-dimensional role. He does his best but by the end of the film you'll be crying out for someone to kill him.I ended up with the Undercover Blues after watching this film. Roll on the next screwball comedy genre attempt...

As in every comedy, there are things that are very funny and things that are annoying or stupid. You just hope that the "good" outweighs the "bad." I think that's the case here, even though I traded in the tape. However, I did watch it a couple of times, so there are enough laughs to make this worth seeing. There are enough odd characters, too. That's no surprise when you see the supporting cast: Stanley Tucci, Larry Miller, Fiona Shaw and Tom Arnold. All of them put added spark to the film. Tucci, as "Meurte," is most obvious as he continually tries to mug the leading couple, played by Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid. Miller plays a weird cop with a lisp and a very weird accent. I guess you could call this movie "quirky."Turner and Quaid are so smug as modern-day Nick and Nora Charles, you want to root for "Muerte" to succeed. Frankly, I never found Turner, except perhaps in "Body Heat," to be that alluring. However, I think she is an underrated comedienne. As a whole, this comedy is a little rough in spots, hence the PG-13 rating which often means more profanity than R-rated films. This is not for the kiddies, but adults will laugh.