The interplay between Dr. Evil and his diminutive clone -- played with nasty, silent wit by Verne Troyer, with a waxy bald Dr. Evil pate and wearing a shrunk-down Dr. Evil outfit -- would have been marvelously funny in smaller doses. As it is, though, the near ubiquitousness of Dr. Evil drains precious time away from Powers and his love interest, played by the lushly appealing Heather Graham. Graham is the same kind of good-sport actress Elizabeth Hurley proved to be in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." She's eternally randy, but never trashy, uttering the most ridiculous lines with a roll of her round baby-blue eyes, letting you know that she's just tickled to be in on the fun. Graham has been astonishing in more serious roles, in movies like "Drugstore Cowboy" and last year's "Two Girls and a Guy," but there's something wonderfully freeing about seeing her cut loose here. And she wears the clothes beautifully, making you forget that generally speaking, crocheted minidresses are really just a euphemism for "mistake." She carries off a particularly holey number with an unusual amount of grace and charm -- a little like Grace Kelly crossed with Barbarella.

Graham and Myers are so goofy and natural together, it's a shame they don't have more time to gambol and flirt. What's more, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" is burdened by a little too much toilet humor (which I love as much as the next guy, but it seems excessive and out of place when there are so many opportunities for simple, silly time-warp and shagging jokes). But the movie's unabashedly brilliant moments -- there's a skillfully edited sequence that uses every synonym you can think of for the word "penis," and a few you've probably forgotten -- make up for at least some of the truly throwaway humor. And it's always a delight to look at, done up in paint-box colors, with countless aural and visual cues borrowed from Bond films and their lesser imitators (including a volcano base for Dr. Evil that's a direct nod to "You Only Live Twice"). In fact, the movie's visual jokes outshine its verbal ones: The film is loaded with sight gags, including a particularly outrageous one that takes place in a backlit camping tent. (To even begin to describe it would only give it away.)

There's lots to look at in "The Spy Who Shagged Me" -- a daydreamy re-creation of London's Carnaby Street circa 1969; Powers' Union Jack "Shaguar" zipping along country roads. But no matter how striking these visuals are, none of them are enough to make you ever forget the enchanted forest of fur that thrives on Austin Powers' chest. That, I'm afraid, is an image for the ages.
salon.com | June 11, 1999

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