The Spy Next Door

Jackie Chan goes looking for a piece of the lucrative family-film market in this lame-brained comedy, in which he stars as Bob Ho, a mild-mannered pen importer who moonlights as an undercover CIA agent working in Albuquerque. Bob is just the kind of “honest” guy that his suburban single-mom neighbor, Gillian (supermodel Amber Valletta), really wants in her life, but her three kids find him dull as dishwater. When Gillian must leave town to care for a sick relative, boring Bob offers to watch over her sullen, sarcastic teenage daughter Farren (Madeline Carroll), nerdy technophile son Ian (Will Shadley), and adorable four-year-old Nora (Alina Foley), leaving the spy chores to his CIA colleagues (George Lopez, Billy Ray Cyrus). Predictably, Bob proves to be totally incompetent around the house, but when Ian accidentally intercepts and downloads onto his iPod a top-secret formula for a bacteria-devouring chemical that can destroy most of the world's oil, the family is besieged by evil Russians, propelling Bob to install closed-circuit cameras and other devices before doing cartoonish acrobatic battle with the villains. Borrowing elements from The Pacifier and Kindergarten Cop, director Brian Levant unfortunately encourages the young actors here to be far more obnoxious than necessary. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the production featurettes “Adventures in Acting with the Kids” (11 min.) and “Jackie Chan: Stunt Master and Mentor” (10 min.), a blooper reel (3 min.), and trailers. The Blu-ray release includes a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)