Mission not accomplished

26968027

Agent Cody Banks
PG
Opening tomorrow at area theaters
Two reels out of four

Agent Cody Banks is a mediocre movie and I hate mediocre movies even more than really bad ones. "Why?" you might ask. Because at least bad ones make me feel superior at worst and make me laugh at their unintentional humor at best. A mediocre movie offers no residual joy whatsoever — just the nagging reminder that you could be doing something else with your time instead of watching a movie that either should have or could have been a lot better. And Agent Cody Banks is guilty on both counts.

Frankie Muniz plays Cody, your basic American teenager. Like many boys his age, he gets tongue-tied when he tries to ask a girl on a date. And, like many boys his age, he fights with his younger brother over who has to clean out the guinea pig’s cage. Unlike many boys his age, he spent his summer vacation at a super-secret camp, where the CIA trained him. Cody is called into duty to woo popular girl Natalie Connors (Hilary Duff) so that the CIA may keep an eye on her brilliant scientist father (Martin Donovan). Cody eventually overcomes his shyness with girls to save the world.

Agent Cody Banks could have been pretty good. It has a likable lead in Muniz. There is also a nice supporting cast, including major babe Angie Harmon. Even veteran character actor Keith David, who lays it on a little thick as the CIA director, is fun to watch. The film even has its share of funny and cool moments. But the good moments are far outweighed by the bad ones.

I have no problem with a movie being influenced by Spy Kids. However, every teenage movie that is even remotely about spies or intrigue seems obligated to try to top Spy Kids‘ cool gadgetry and cartoonish feel. And, like Agent Cody Banks, they will fail trying. I think the filmmakers may have fared better if they had tried to borrow a decent screenplay as well.

The trend in young-spy knockoffs is reminiscent of the late 1970s, when a slew of grade-B sci-fi movies were churned out to capitalize on the surprise success of Star Wars. They all failed because they didn’t get that Star Wars wasn’t really science fiction. It was a loving tribute to Saturday afternoon serials, using the science-fiction genre as a platform.

Likewise, anyone trying to emulate Spy Kids will fail unless they realize that first movie wasn’t about gadgetry. It was about using your imagination when all else fails. I don’t know what the producers were imagining here, but it wasn’t a good movie.

Auto Focus
R
Available Tuesday

Perhaps the only thing more unlikely than a sitcom about a Nazi prison camp (just 20 years after World War II, no less) was what happened to Bob Crane, the star of Hogan’s Heroes. Paul Schrader’s Auto Focus tells the fascinating but ultimately tragic story of Crane, who starred on the hit sitcom from 1965 to 1971. While still on the show, Crane met John Carpenter, a video technician who introduced the happily married man to a slew of sexy women and captured the results on videotape. What began as an innocent dalliance became a full-blown addiction, eventually destroying Crane’s career and his life. Who better than Schrader, who penned Taxi Driver, to capture Crane’s downfall? Greg Kinnear is never less than mesmerizing as Crane, and Willem Dafoe should have at least gotten an Oscar nomination for his transcendentally creepy performance as Carpenter.