Director Stan (Mr. Mom) Dragoti must have thought he had it made. Borrow a hit idea—the old standby of the innocent man mistaken for a spy—from the French comedy The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe. Cast Tom Hanks, doing his basic befuddlement routine that was so winning in Splash. Then put in the middle the CIA, the modern cinematic equivalent of the Keystone Kops. Add slapstick. Presto, surely you have a terrifically funny film, right, Stan? But wait...the plot is played so broadly it seems aimed at 8 year olds. Hanks, acting like a second string Bill Murray, seems hapless more often than he seems mistreated by fate. And the CIA types, who include Lori (The Falcon and the Snowman) Singer, Charles (Tootsie) Durning, Dabney (9 to 5) Coleman and Ed (The Purple Rose of Cairo) Herrmann, are total oafs. (Jim Belushi and Carrie Fisher, who have small roles as friends of Hanks, are the only contributors who seem fresh.) The French indeed have a word for this kind of thing: ennuyant. That means borrrrrrring. (PG)
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