Undercover Blues

Directed by Herbert Ross, Undercover Blues follows retired spies Jefferson (Dennis Quaid) and Jane Blue (Kathleen Turner) as they’re reluctantly drawn back into service after a Czech arms dealer (Fiona Shaw’s Novacek) arrives on the scene – with the pair’s efforts complicated by a variety of outside forces (including Obba Babatunde and Larry Miller’s omnipresent cops and Stanley Tucci’s tenacious thug Muerte). It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to watchable (if progressively underwhelming) effect by Ross, as the filmmaker, armed with Ian Abrams’ script, delivers a briskly-paced comedy that benefits quite substantially from the endlessly charismatic work of its two stars – although Quaid and Turner’s top-notch efforts here are often eclipsed by Tucci’s indelible and completely irresistible turn as the goofy, far-from-menacing Muerte (or “Morty,” as Jefferson casually dubs him). There’s little doubt, then, that Undercover Blues‘ inability to wholeheartedly capture the viewer’s interest and attention is due to an increasingly less-than-enthralling narrative, with the central characters’ somewhat tedious spy-based exploits paving the way for a disappointingly generic third act and anticlimactic finale – which is a shame, certainly, given the tremendous potential afforded by the uniformly superb performances. (Tucci’s go-for-broke presence alone justifies the picture’s very existence.)

**1/2 out of ****