Spy: 166

From Paris with Love (2010), a French-English action thriller directed by Pierre Morel, follows the story of James Reese. He enjoys a comfortable life in Paris with his girlfriend Caroline, but his true passion lies in his side job with the CIA. Facing a shortage of agents in France, Reese is paired with field agent Charlie Wax. However, Wax’s cans of energy drink cause a holdup at customs and he refuses to give them up. Despite the seemingly trivial situation, Wax continues to berate customs until Reese uses his diplomatic authority to clear the cans. In the car later on, Wax apologizes for his behavior and ...

Knight and Day (2010), a satirical action comedy film, follows the chaotic journey of June Havens as she crosses paths with Roy Miller at the airport while traveling back to Boston. Their encounter results in June being put on a later flight by CIA agent John Fitzgerald, who mistakenly believes she is working with Roy. In an unexpected turn of events, Roy takes control of the plane after subduing both passengers and crew members who were actually agents sent by Fitzgerald. During the chaos, June is drugged and warned about potential dangers ahead. Upon returning home, June discovers that her sister April wants to sell their father’s 1966 Pontiac GTO tri-power ...

Salt (2010) is an American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Kurt Wimmer. The story follows Evelyn Salt, who finds herself imprisoned in North Korea on suspicion of being a U.S. spy. In an effort to quiet the attention her boyfriend, arachnologist Mike Krause, has drawn to her case, the CIA arranges for a prisoner exchange. Despite Evelyn’s confession of her true identity as a CIA operative, Mike still proposes marriage. Two years later, Evelyn is involved in an interrogation of Russian defector Oleg Vasilyevich Orlov with fellow CIA ...

Tony Gilroy wrote and directed Duplicity (2009), an American romantic crime comedy starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Five years prior to this, Ray Koval, an MI6 agent, crossed paths with CIA officer Claire Stenwick at a party in Dubai. Unaware of her identity, he tried to seduce her but ended up being drugged and robbed of classified documents. Their next encounter is three years later in Rome, where they spend several days together at a luxurious hotel. As they consider leaving their government jobs for the cut-throat ...

Created by Adam Reed for FX, Archer (2009–2023) is an American adult animated sitcom that ran from September 17, 2009 to December 17, 2023. It follows the escapades of eight dysfunctional individuals who work for the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a fictional intelligence agency based in New York. The team includes Sterling Archer, the self-absorbed and womanizing main character; Malory Archer, a former agent who now serves as director and also happens to be Sterling’s abusive mother; Lana Kane, Sterling’s on-again, off-again lover and highly skilled field agent; Ray Gillette, the openly ...

The Informant! (2009) is an American biographical-crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Z. Burns. It follows the story of Mark Whitacre, a rising star at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Decatur, Illinois during the early 1990s. Whitacre’s wife Ginger urges him to blow the whistle on the company’s illegal price-fixing practices. In November 1992, he confesses to FBI agent Brian Shepard that ADM executives (including himself) had been colluding with competitors to manipulate lysine prices. To gather evidence, Whitacre secretly ...

OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009) is a French spy comedy, co-written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius. The story begins with Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, also known as OSS 117, at a ski chalet party in Gstaad entertaining a Chinese countess. However, the party is ambushed by Red Chinese gunmen on behalf of Mr. Lee, leaving only Hubert and the Countess alive. Despite his comical efforts to defend himself and his guests, Hubert is the only survivor. Upon returning to SDECE headquarters, he receives a mission to deliver a blackmail payment of 50,000 new Francs to Professor Von Zimmel – a Nazi who fled to South America ...

Burn After Reading (2008) is a black comedy film created by the Coen brothers. When Osbourne Cox gets demoted for drinking, he quits his job as a CIA analyst and decides to write a memoir. His wife Katie secretly files for divorce and resumes her affair with U.S. Marshal Harry Pfarrer, who is prone to paranoia. Katie gives her lawyer a copy of Osbourne’s digital records and other personal files, which include an early draft of his memoir. The lawyer’s assistant copies the files onto a CD-R and accidentally leaves it at Hardbodies gym. Personal trainer Chad Feldheimer and coworker Linda Litzke come across the ...

Traitor (2008) is an American spy thriller film written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, based on a story by Steve Martin. Samir Horn, an Arabic-speaking Sudanese-American and devout Muslim, lost his father to a car bomb in his childhood. As an adult, he becomes an arms dealer and gets arrested during a deal in Yemen. Samir’s friendly relationship with Omar, who later arranges their escape from jail together, introduces him to Fareed, a leader of the terrorist organization al-Nathir. FBI Special Agent Roy Clayton starts suspecting that Samir has become ...

The British television adaptation of The 39 Steps (2008) is a thrilling adventure based on the novel by John Buchan. The story begins in 1914 with Richard Hannay, a former mining engineer and intelligence officer. Dissatisfied with his return to England after serving in Africa, he finds society to be cliquey, class-bound, and dull. While trying to evade German spies, a man named Scudder shows up at Hannay’s flat and confesses to being a betrayed agent of the British Secret Service Bureau. He has been tracking a German espionage ring headquartered in Scotland and has uncovered plans to assassinate a European royal ...

Directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and written by William Monahan, Body of Lies (2008) is an American spy action thriller film. In Manchester, England, anti-terrorism police teams are preparing to raid a house. As they enter the house, the terrorists inside hear them and one of them triggers an explosion with a button on his cell phone, destroying the entire house. While tracking a high-ranking terrorist leader named Al-Saleem in Iraq, CIA case officer Roger Ferris encounters Nizar – a member of the terrorist organization who offers information in exchange for ...

Get Smart (2008) is an American spy action comedy film directed by Peter Segal, with a screenplay by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. It was produced by Leonard B. Stern, who also produced the original television series. The story follows Maxwell ‘Max’ Smart, an analyst for CONTROL – a top secret American intelligence agency. Despite his desire to become a field agent, Max is kept behind a desk due to his Chief’s appreciation for his analytical skills. ...

24: Redemption (2008) is a TV movie set in the world of 24. It occurs four years after the sixth season and two months before the seventh, in real time between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm (Sangala Time Zone) on Inauguration Day in the US. After the events of Day Six, a young boy is taken from his home in Sangala and forced into joining a rebel militia led by General Benjamin Juma. The coup they are planning is being financed by an American secret organization run by Jonas Hodges. During this time, Jack Bauer is working at a school owned by his old colleague Carl Benton, when he is served with a subpoena by US Embassy official Frank Trammel, who wants him to testify ...

Quantum of Solace (2008) is the twenty-second installment in the iconic James Bond series created by Eon Productions. Bond transports Mr. White, a detainee, from Lake Garda to Siena, Italy in his vehicle. While evading pursuers, Bond successfully delivers White to M, who questions him about the elusive organisation Quantum. When White reveals that their agents are ubiquitous, one of M’s protectors named Craig Mitchell shoots a guard and turns on her. In an attempt to apprehend Mitchell, Bond ends his life as White manages to escape. Further investigation of Mitchell’s residence in London leads Bond and M to learn about his connection with a man ...

The Company (2007) is a three-part serial based on the best-selling 2002 novel by Robert Littell, following the activities of the CIA during the Cold War. Ken Nolan penned the teleplay adaptation and received a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted. The story begins in 1950 as Jack McAuliffe, Leo Kritzky, and Yevgeny Tsipin graduate from Yale and venture down different paths. While Jack and Leo join the CIA under Frank ‘The Wizard’ Wisner’s guidance, Yevgeny returns to Moscow where he is recruited by KGB spymaster Starik and ...

Breach (2007) is a American spy thriller film directed by Billy Ray, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Adam Mazer and William Rotko. The movie follows Eric O’Neill, a young and ambitious FBI employee who is tasked with going undercover as a clerk to Robert Hanssen, a senior agent suspected of deviant behavior. Despite being recalled from his position at the State Department to head a new division focused on Information Assurance at FBI headquarters, Hanssen maintains a strict formality with O’Neill. He ...

The American action comedy/spy-drama TV series, Chuck (2007–2012), was created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The main character, Chuck Bartowski, is an unmotivated but intelligent computer service expert in his mid-twenties who works at Buy More in Burbank, California. His best friend and co-worker is Morgan Grimes. Chuck’s dreams were dashed when he was falsely accused of cheating and expelled from Stanford University. He now lives with his sister Ellie and her boyfriend, Devon ‘Captain Awesome’ Woodcomb, both doctors who constantly push him to ...

The action-thriller film, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), directed by Paul Greengrass, has an entirely different plot than the 1990 novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum. After being pursued by Kirill, Jason Bourne must evade Moscow police while wounded and confront more memories of his time in Operation Treadstone. Six weeks later, CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy reveals a taped confession from Ward Abbott, the former head of Treadstone, to Director Ezra Kramer. Meanwhile, journalist Simon Ross from The Guardian discovers information about Bourne and Operation Blackbriar ...

The American spy film, The Good Shepherd (2006), was both produced and directed by Robert De Niro. Following the disastrous end of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, suspicions arise about a potential ‘mole’ within the CIA. Senior officer Edward Wilson returns home to find a photograph and audio tapes that have been tampered with, leaving some details unclear. Flashing back to his time at Yale University in 1939, Wilson is invited to join the Skull and Bones fraternity where he reveals that he discovered but never read his father’s suicide note. His father, an admiral who had been considered for ...

The French spy comedy OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) marks the feature directorial debut of Michel Hazanavicius. Pre-credits, we see Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (OSS 117) and his friend Jack Jefferson take over a Nazi plane and recover stolen V2 plans during a black and white scene titled ‘BERLIN 1945’. The film then transitions to Rome, several years later, where de La Bath is in a hotel room with Egyptian Princess Al Tarouk who gives him an envelope to deliver to his superiors in Paris. In Paris, de La Bath is shown photos depicting Jack’s death from the envelope. This triggers flashbacks ...