D.E.B.S. (2004)

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This movie was constantly being recommended to me by Netflix so I figured that despite the annoying poster/ridiculous tagline, I'd give it a try. Lucky me! D.E.B.S. mixes aspects of romance, parody, and action to create a surprisingly touching love story/spy spoof. After high school, Amy (Sara Foster) was recruited into a super-secret all-female spy academy, told she scored perfectly on a special hidden test within the SATs. Her team includes the extremely dedicated captain Max (Meagan Good), French sexaholic Dominique (Devon Aoki), and talkative new recruit Janet (Jill Ritchie). They are visited by the headmistress Ms Petrie (Holland Taylor) and their advisor Mr Phipps (Michael Clark Duncan) and informed that notorious thief Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster) has resurfaced after years of inactivity. It is said no one has ever fought her and lived. When an observational mission of a meeting between the thief and a female Russian assassin goes awry, Amy finds herself face to face with Lucy, on whom she has been writing her thesis, and they each feel an instant connection. Turns out the meeting was a blind date, and Lucy's first time out after her last breakup. Now she has her sights on Amy, convinced that they should go out.

After escaping from Amy, Lucy later breaks into the D.E.B.S. house and cajoles/forces her into going out to a bar, with sidekick Scud (Jimmi Simpson) and nosy Janet tagging along. Amy eventually warms up to Lucy, but soon remembers that she is fraternizing with the enemy and must stand by her position as a law enforcer. She and Janet keep their night out a secret as Amy is commended for "surviving a fight" with Lucy Diamond earlier, even being promoted to team captain (much to Max's chagrin). It's not long before Lucy enacts a massive bank heist in hopes of luring the D.E.B.S., and successfully kidnaps Amy. For a week the two hang out and get to know each other, with Amy finally able to admit and act on her attraction. When the D.E.B.S. stage a rescue and find her in bed with Lucy, her treachery is complete. Not wanting to lose her star pupil, Ms Petrie forces Amy to choose between the upright, though unfulfilling life she's always lived, and the thrill of an exciting, but daring new romance.

I really didn't expect this film to be at all what it turned out to be, and that was fine. It is considerably low on the action/guns/fighting aspect, and really focuses a lot more on the romance between Amy and Lucy, as well as the relationships between the D.E.B.S. It is quite funny, but in fairly subtle ways- a lot of the humor is visual (the swings they use to spy on people below them, the faux-Catholic school outfits as field uniforms, etc), which helps the dialogue feel more true. Though very much a comedy, and despite the ludicrous premise, I could still take Lucy and Amy's relationship seriously. It's a good mix.

The cast is pretty great. It was nice to see Meagan Good again, only knowing her from Brick (most of her recent movie choices are unimpressive). Devon Aoki was excellent though sadly underused, as was Jimmi Thompson as Lucy's nervous but supportive sidekick. I totally fell in love with the striking Jordana Brewster, who plays Lucy with a sly smile, inspiring self-confidence, and easy sense of fun. The main performance I wasn't so keen on was Sara Foster, finding her a bit stale and flat. She didn't bring much depth or passion to the role, and it was just sort of boring to watch her. Nevertheless D.E.B.S. is a very interesting and cute romantic spy comedy with a very good female-dominated cast.

4/5