Taglines: To catch a thief, Henry Durand must do the unthinkable. Spy on his mother.
The film begins with Tommy Lucero (Antonio Banderas) being caught by French police following a foiled robbery at a museum. Tommy seems confident he will not remain in police custody very long. The film then shifts its focus to Henry Durand (Colin Hanks). Henry had to care for his mother, Marty (Meg Ryan), when his father died in jail. Now a grown man and an FBI agent, Henry leaves his overweight mother to go work on a case.
Upon returning three years later, he finds his mother has lost a considerable amount of weight and is dating several men, one half her age, having turned over a new leaf after a passerby dropped a coin in her coffee cup, mistaking her for a homeless person. Henry announces to his mother that he has recently become engaged to another FBI agent, Emily (Selma Blair). Henry finds himself in a very uneasy state with his newly transformed mother and begins to be extremely protective about her. He confides his worries in his fiancée who does not find anything unusual in Marty’s behavior.
While taking a walk with Henry and Emily, Marty is hit in the head by a toy helicopter being flown by Tommy. Tommy asks to take the trio to dinner at an old Croatian restaurant as an apology. Henry, who is still protective of his mother, grudgingly concedes to go when he notices how much his mother and Emily want to.
Romance sparks between Marty and Tommy. Henry, meanwhile, is informed by his FBI superiors that they expect Tommy and two accomplices are going to attempt to steal a sculpture currently on display at a local museum. Along with his fellow agents, Henry spies on his mother around the clock, albeit reluctantly, after the FBI chief implied that he may be shipped to Alaska if he doesn’t cooperate. Many uncomfortable situations arise for Henry as he has to listen into the conversations his mother has with Tommy.
While stealing the sculpture, Tommy is betrayed by his gang members and shot twice in the chest. He survives due to wearing a ballistic vest, but is later caught by Henry and Emily. Tommy reveals to them that his real name is Tomas Martinez and he is with the CIA. He has been working undercover trying to apprehend a gang of thieves who are stealing art to fund terrorism. He is concerned the gang will attempt to kill Marty as they know he has been romantically involved with her and she may know about their operation. The trio reaches the Durand house in time to rescue Marty from the gang. The film ends with the gang members being taken into custody while Tommy kisses Marty and Henry kisses Emily.
My Mom’s New Boyfriend is a 2008 romantic comedy film starring Colin Hanks, Antonio Banderas, Selma Blair, and Meg Ryan. It is rated PG-13 for “sexual content, language, some violence and drug material”. The film received a limited theatrical release worldwide. However it was released straight-to-DVD in the United States on June 17, 2008. It was released under the title My Spy in the UK and Australia.
Film Review for My Mom’s New Boyfriend
Colin Hanks (Untraceable, King Kong) plays FBI agent Henry Durand, who is coming home to see his mother after spending the last three years in an undercover operation that left him out of touch with the life he left behind. In that time, his widowed mother has undergone a complete makeover, turning Martha — an overweight, smoking and depressed woman — into Marty — the hottest MILF sexpot in Shreveport, Louisiana. Henry’s fiancée (Selma Blair), tags along and takes a sudden liking to Marty, as does nearly everyone else, especially all of the men around who ogle her, much to Henry’s disgust.
Meanwhile, Marty catches the eye of Tommy (Banderas, Shrek the Third), an international hi-tech art thief who is ostensibly in town to bag a priceless statue in an exhibition at a Shreveport museum. The FBI catches wind of it and asks Henry to use his surveillance skills to lead a team of agents to monitor the house, which means he’s undercover while his mother’s under the covers, and has to listen in on his mother’s intimate details in her burgeoning relationship with a known criminal.
Writer-director George Gallo (Trapped in Paradise, Double Take) is in way over his head trying to get two different movies to mesh into a complete and satisfying film, styled, he claims, after Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. One story is the oft-used plot of a spoiled child who can’t stand to see his dear old mom with another guy to replace his departed father (also see Mama’s Boy), which leads to Oedipal feelings that might be interesting if explored with more psychological depth than shown here. The other story is of Tommy and his quest to get the statue, while Henry is trying to take him down. It is Gallo’s supposition that the combination of these different styles will lead to hilarious conflicts, but without originality, wit, or sense of direction, it’s just another straight-to-video release to be consumed and easily forgotten.
It’s sad to see appealing actors like once-too-cute-now-too-plastic Ryan (who replaces the original casting of Annette Bening) and Banderas stuck in roles that have only one note, which gets played repeatedly throughout. Hanks, who isn’t a bad actor himself, should probably stay away from straight comedic roles where he must carry the load, as he isn’t suited for it. It should be noted that he follows in his father’s footsteps in playing opposite of Meg Ryan. Selma Blair, yet again, isn’t given much to do in another throwaway role.
Gallo doesn’t offer anything other than plot complications and exploitation in constant displays of Meg Ryan’s sexier side, but both get progressively less interesting as the film runs along and we discover it’s on a quick road to nowhere. Contrivances abound, such as Henry being asked not to tell anyone he is monitoring Tommy, including his bride-to-be, who is also a fellow FBI agent. The FBI have to be full of idiots not to think that a man who spends as much time as he does in the Durand household wouldn’t be told by mom or girlfriend about their occupations. Gallo attempts a last-minute revelation late in the film in order to cap things off with a happy ending, which could have been interesting if we actually cared these characters and their interests.
Only Meg Ryan or Antonio Banderas completists need apply for My Mom’s New Boyfriend, as it offers little beyond name recognition and recycled plot elements for it’s 90+ minute span.
My Mom’s New Boyfriend (2008)
Directed by: George Gallo
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Meg Ryan, Colin Hanks, Selma Blair, Norm MacDonald, Thomas Joseph Adams, Aki Avni, Dodie Brown, Keith David, Enrico Colantoni, Tarri Markel, Mark Meade
Screenplay by: George Gallo
Production Design by: Bob Ziembicki
Cinematography by: Michael Negrin
Film Editing by: Augie Hess
Costume Design by: Sara Markowitz
Set Decoration by: Bradford Johnson
Art Direction by: Eva Anna Andry
Music by: Chris Boardman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, language, some violence and drug material.
Distributed by: Millennium Films
Release Date: February 22, 2008
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