Movie Review by Nigel A. Messenger
Starring: Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff, Angie Harmon, Keith David, Daniel Roebuck
Director: Harald Zwart
Most people, especially guys, would at some time like to be James Bond and in AGENT CODY BANKS Cody (Frankie Muniz) gets to be just that, or at least a secret agent with plenty of gadgets and gorgeous girls. Secretly trained at summer camp Cody is a sleeper agent, in high school with all the usual teenage problems. That is until he is activated by the government and sent on a mission to get close to Natalie Connor (Hilary Duff) the daughter of a scientist who is working on a project that could destroy the planet.
In typical Bond style Cody gets partnered with the incredibly hot Agent Ronica Miles (Angie Harmon) who steals the first scene she’s in with Cody by walking straight into the boys locker room with plenty of attitude and cleavage!
Cody’s initial relationship with Natalie goes almost as well, he’s got the style, he’s an expert at martial arts, but he just can’t talk to girls. Fortunately he gets past this problem and goes on to save the girl and the world in true Bond style.
AGENT CODY BANKS gets the mix just right. It’s funny in the right places and anything corny about the storyline gets lost in the sheer enjoyment of the movie. It’s true the action and hot looking girls seem to add up to a teenage boys fantasy, but Bond has been doing that for years and still manages to pull in huge audiences of all age groups and both sexes.
About the only thing AGENT CODY BANKS doesn’t have from the Bond stable is that the girls have normal names rather than names that sound like they’re copied from a ‘who’s-who’ of adult movie actresses. Plus the fact the Cody isn’t going to get more than a quick peck on the cheek to satisfy his teenage hormones.
Kids of all ages are going to enjoy AGENT CODY BANKS and a lot of them (including the grown-up ones) will love it.
Roll on the many sequels.
