I’ve been reading John Scalzi’s Comfort Watch posts this month and really enjoying his take on film critique of a certain type of favorite film and why it clicks with him.

My wife and I have stressful jobs that we’ve described to others as “all of other people’s problems become our problems.” So stress is kind of a given for us on a good portion of days. We also have jobs that require a lot of research and thinking and problem solving. So mental exhaustion is pretty common around here. So “comfort movies” where losing focus for a minute doesn’t ruin the whole movie for us are a great thing.

The Spy Who Dumped Me is a more recent addition to that rotation of films. And it’s a great one to watch for sheer entertainment when you’ve had a long day and just want tk relax with something silly.

Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play Audrey and Morgan, two best friends who end up way over their heads when Audrey’s (ex) boyfriend turns out to have been working for the CIA and sends her on a mission to Europe to pass on a trophy. The chemistry between Kunis and McKinnon is great, they look on screen like they had a great time filming, like they turned humorous scenes into a challenge to make the other crack.

There’s a scene where Audrey and Morgan are trying to convince an antagonist that they aren’t lying and so they each start spouting off secrets about the other. The scene absolutely feels like an attempt by Kunis and McKinnon to one up each other and the timing they show as a pair is just spot on. The timing ratchets up faster and faster then lets off just as the movie needs to return to building tension. It’s a scene thats just well put together for blending the spy thriller genre with a buddy comedy.

As a whole, the movie feels like the kind of adventure my friends and I would have imagined happening to us after a particularly good spy movie when I was younger. Rushing off immediately, with the passports conveniently in the glove compartment. Making a quip that totally minimizes the risks of taking the action. And I say this in a positive way, because a lot of the comedy in the movie comes from Kunis and McKinnon’s characters generally acting how a clueless person thrown into the situation would act. That they are not the suave spies portrayed by Jude Law or Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan is both the joke and the point.

If you like buddy comedies and spy movies, The Spy Who Dumped Me is a great mix of the genres, and Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon do a great job of carrying the movie throughout.