He quickly finds out when Jillian is called to her father's hospital bedside and Bob Ho is left with three kids, a little four-year-old girl, an older boy who is a serious geek, and a pre-teen with angst and a taste for inappropriate clothing.

And it's halloween. Which he needs the four-year-old to explain to him.

He rapidly discovers that the only way for a spy with mad athletic martial arts skills to prevail is to bring in the covert espionage equipment.

Spying is easy, being a parent is hard.

Bob Ho must win the hearts of the kids in order to make a family with the woman he loves, and they must win his heart also. He tries to do this without revealing that instead of a geek, he's actually an incredibly cool spy. It's made all the harder when the son of the family downloads secret Russian plans and puts them all in jeopardy.

This reviewer confesses that she is madly in love with wire stunts, impressed by Jackie Chan's ability to perform them, and thinks that jackie Chan has a charming screen presence. So, yes, she had a great time watching this film in a cinema full of delighted kids.

In the midst of all the angst-ridden, gawd-help-us serious movies that people believe they should like, it is wonderful to sit back and just be entertained by a film with a plot and a heart. And Jackie Chan.

Recommended. Reviewers are girls who just wanna have fun.

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by Ali Kayn Due for Australian release 15 March 2010 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Jackie Chan also appears in The Forbidden Kingdom ; Rush Hour 2;

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Just the facts: Title: The Spy Next Door (2010) Written by: Jonathan Bernstein (scr, story) & James Greer (scr, story) and Gregory Poirier (screenplay) Directed by: Brian Levant Running time: 94 mins Rating: PG Mild violence The Players: Jackie Chan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Official website: www.thespynextdoormovie.com.au IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.