Film Reviews

Agent Cody Banks

• Rating:
• Director: Harald Wart
• Starring: Angie Harmon
• Details: US / 110 mins / (12PG).

Call it the Ralph Macchio syndrome, but there are some young turks in Hollywood who never seem to act their age. Take that Frankie Muinz. The youthful star of Malcolm in the Middle, Muinz has been attempting to fashion himself a worthwhile movie career over the last couple of years with limited success. Problem is, although Muinz is 18, he's usually content to play it as if he's five years younger. Certainly that's the higher end of the spectrum that this sloppy teenage James Bond-lite imitation will appeal to. Muinz is, of course, the title character, a 15-year-old kid, recruited by the CIA to be a sleeper spy while at summer camp (it gets worse). Called into action, Cody's mission is to ingratiate himself with a posh student called Natalie (Duff). The reason? Her father, Dr Connors (Donovan) has developed a hi-tech miniature robot, which his evil financer, Brinkman (Ian McShane), has some nefarious plans for.
Remarkably slight, Agent Cody Banks plays out like a slightly older version of Spy Kids with all of the self-effacing good humour sucked out of it. If Banks went strictly for laughs, it may have been more successful, but the filmmakers are unable to settle on a definite tone. Indeed, the basic moral seems to be not to underestimate kids. And never try and get the better of the ones who have been schooled in the ways of the CIA. Which, quite frankly, is not a lesson I was desperate to learn. The plus points? Only former Law and Order stalwart, Angie Harmon andndash; even though she looks like she got lost in the Austin Powers wardrobe department.

Review by Garreth Murphy