Undercover Blues

Dennis Quaid's killer smile and Kathleen Turner's lovely legs are two of the up-front assets this winning comedy relies on to work its magic. But Herbert Ross' film also boasts a fine script, overall good casting and tight editing that keeps the gags flowing smoothly. [13 Sept 1993]

The moderately enjoyable “Undercover Blues” plays like a big-screen, big-budget pilot for a TV series. Read full review

A most genial surprise, a comic update of cold war espionage movies that, because of the New Orleans location, has the enhanced charm of a stolen holiday...This movie is a breeze. Read full review

Ultimately, however, the film belongs to Turner and Quaid, whose obvious pleasure extends to Shaw and especially Tucci, who after playing really nasty villains for years reveals some heretofore unknown comedic flair. Read full review

The script by Ian Abrams puts them through strictly formulaic moves, but it has flashes of wit and it's even literate. [10 Sept 1993, p.47]

Undercover Blues offers a perfectly enjoyable, completely forgettable hour and a half. After all, how hard is it to watch pros like Quaid and Turner have a good time knocking around with a lovable baby? As Quaid coos to the toddler, "It's a bad world, isn't it, sweetheart? You 'n me 'n Mom are gonna make it better, right?" Quaid, Turner and the kid do make this movie better, but it isn't good enough. Read full review

The movie’s a dog, but you almost wish for a sequel, if only to do right by these two. Read full review

Turner, though as dewy-eyed as Doris Day, proves again that she is a comedienne to reckon with, and Quaid's playboy-tamed-only-by-domestic-bliss nonchalance is nearly as well played. Their repartee, while not up to the standards of Nick and Nora, is fast and funny and good-natured. In fact, this whole movie is so good-natured, I think I might have enjoyed a Shasta Black Cherry soda pop with my popcorn. Well, maybe some berry-flavored sparkling water… Read full review

Undercover Blues is silly enough to deserve some credit, and for those who see it, there will at least be a few laughs. This empty-headed comedy revels in its own admitted idiocy. It's debatable whether anyone would want to pay money for this picture, but when it gets to cable, it will be worth a look for those who are in the right mood. After all, there's always a place for mindless entertainment, even if that place is on television. Read full review

Overbroad, underdone. Read full review

As directed by a button-pushing Herbert Ross, "Undercover Blues" operates under the credo of "Grin, and the world grins with you." The ever-chipper Turner and Quaid try their damndest throughout, with Quaid often resembling a Cheshire cat whose face froze that way. throughout, with Quaid often resembling a Cheshire cat whose face froze that way. But all the pep in the world couldn't save this nonsensical mixture of low-rent espionage, low-ball slapstick and low-reaching cuddly family moments, like the baby's first steps captured in what looks like a Polaroid ad. Read full review

With Herbert Ross' campy direction highlighting the most juvenile aspects of Ian Abrams' script, Blues seems to be targeting an audience that considers the Ernest movies highbrow; a PG-13 movie that treats viewers like 12-year-olds. [15 Sept 1993, p.6B]

Trying so hard to recreate the stylish spy comedies of the 60's, Turner and Quaid pose unconvincingly as the couple in New Orleans when their maternity leave is cut short. Sadly they the required chemistry and their banter falls decidedly flat. The only redeeming feature is the support of Stanley Tucci. Read full review

The non-stop insouciance soon becomes more grating than charming, and is sustained by some remarkably flat dialogue. Adding to the film's troubles is the gratuitously "cute" use made of the baby--one scene exists purely so the audience can coo appreciatively as she takes her first steps. Ten minutes of this, and Nick and Nora Charles would have ducked home for a highball. Read full review

Director Ross and his stars have been eagerly comparing Undercover Blues to the Thin Man movies of yore. True, both feature a bantering husband and wife team that excels at crimebusting, but Nick and Nora Charles had more substance - and, for that matter, more style - than Jeff and Jane Blue. And unlike their modern imitators, Nick and Nora had the good taste not to smile so overbearingly that you wanted to punch them. [13 Sept 1993]

Take everything extraneous out of Undercover Blues and you're left with about 15 minutes of physical gags and banter, more than enough to make an amusing coming-attractions trailer but about 70 minutes short of a decent movie. [11 Sept 1993, p.F5]

Disappointingly infantile. Read full review

When actors grin as much as they do in "Undercover Blues," you know that something is seriously the matter. [10 Sept 1993, p.40]

Only the quips aren't funny. Not much about the script is amusing at all. Worse, the director, Herbert Ross, who once had a reputation for grace, has been growing clumsier for years and now seems to have lost his timing. [14 Sept 1993, p.E6]