THE SPY NEXT DOOR (USA 2009) **
Directed by Brian Levant

Many stars eventually star in awful family films as a kids babysitter.  Even Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy (DADDY DAY CARE) and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (JINGLE ALL THE WAY) have done their time.  Hong Kong martial-arts superstar has his turn in Brian Levant’s THE SPY NEXT DOOR where he has to look after his girlfriend, Gillian’s (Amber Valletta) three precocious children while mother has to leave for a while.

Films of this genre are catered to a target family audience.  To be fair, a few of these films such as the aforementioned JINGLE ALL THE WAY, which was also directed by Levant are pretty decent.  Levant appears to have crafted a niche with these films having directed FATHER CAN’T COPE, SNOW DOGS, ARE WE THERE YET? and PROBLEM CHILD 2.  Hit or miss with his latest?  THE SPY NEXT DOOR throws in harmless martial-arts as a distraction.  The first part of the film is actually not bad but it finally sinks into predictability, sappiness and tedium.

The story concerns ex CIA agent Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) forced to baby-sit.  When one of the three children accidentally downloads a top secret formula, Bob’s nemesis Russian terrorist (Magnus Scheving) who wears bad clothing shows up endangering the lives of the kids.  Bob, of course saves the day via martial-arts stunts; the three think he is cool and a happy ending ensues.

Chan keeps the fighting antics to a minimum, which is a plus as audiences have seen too much of these already right from his early films in the 70’s.  THE SPY NEXT DOOR is basically a Jackie Chan film.  He plays the lovable geek with a good heart.  For all its good intentions, THE SPY NEXT DOOR is passable family fare for the not-too-demanding.