Homewrecker--Michelle (Alex Essoe), a lovely young interior designer, is trying to get some work done on her laptop in a trendy coffee bar. All of a sudden she's accosted by Linda (Precious Chong), an aggressively over-friendly, strangely trapped-in-the-'80s woman from her yoga class. Linda invites herself to sit down, then bullies and cajoles Michelle into coming to her home on the pretext of offering her a design job. Once she gets her in the house, she won't let her leave.
The early part of this blackly comedic Canadian-made shocker, directed by Zach Gayne from a script he co-wrote with Essoe and Chong, is so socially excruciating that when the movie finally tips over into gruesome violence, it's almost a relief. Chong's persona is somewhat reminiscent of Leslie Mann's not-so-passively-aggressive shtick, and her energy drives the movie, but Essoe is subtly funny as well; Michelle's death-defying politeness and decency constitute Homewrecker's best joke.
The film is slight to the point that extended tussling and even a lip-synch sequence feel like padding to get it (just barely) to feature length. Even so, it improves steadily as it goes along; there are inventive episodes throughout, as when Michelle and Linda play an old-school '80s-style "video board game" called Party Hunks! It may be the best game between enemies since Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi played chess in The Black Cat.
My Spy--Dave Bautista of Guardians of the Galaxy plays a CIA badass who is assigned, for reasons I don't feel like explaining, to surveillance of a beautiful single mom and her cute nine-year-old daughter in Chicago. The daughter gets wise to the operation, and in return for silence about the blown cover, the badass agrees to be her special friend, to treat her to ice cream, take her skating and teach her to be a spy.
This comedy, aimed at families though surprisingly violent and crude at times, has the feel of something that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might have taken a pass on. There isn't an original moment; indeed, a great many of the gags derive from acknowledging that they're borrowed from earlier movies. But the kid (Chloe Coleman) is poised and agreeable; vets like Ken Jeong and the excellent Kristen Schaal add some texture; and Bautista, if not as polished as The Rock, nonetheless has an almost childlike quality that's touchingly sweet.
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