I have no idea how to handle this Sacha Baron Cohen led spy spoof. On the one hand, there are some sweet moments covering the back story between Cohen’s goofy-but-loveable Nobby and his long lost brother, Sebastian (played by Mark Strong), who has grown up to become one of Britain’s best superspies. On the other, it really goes that extra mile to surpass the Farrelly Brothers in the “gross-out” comedy genre. You see my dilemma?

The story begins with Nobby tracking down Sebastian just in time to botch his latest mission, and give actor Daniel Radcliffe AIDS (don’t ask). This forces them both to go on the run while also trying to clear Sebastian’s name and save the world. The story actually sort of works, in a way reminiscent of Melissa McCarthy’s Spy (but not nearly as good) because it does have some decent production values, as well as strong performances from the two leads. Strong is especially good, and a good sport to have even signed up for this.  Where it goes a little sideways is with the comedy, which doesn’t always seem to result from the story, but instead feels like a forced attempt to see just how gross a joke they can get away with. To be fair, I did laugh throughout, but most of the time it was that kind of laugh you have when you’re thinking “I can’t believe that they’re actually doing this!” More disbelief than humor appreciation, in other words. That said, my 12-year-old self would probably have burst a bunch of blood vessels in my eyes from laughing so hard. So maybe If you go into it with that mentality?

IMDB has it scored at 6.5. For me, it’s only about a 4.5. I thought it had a little more potential as an action spoof than a gross-out comedy. A word of warning: there is quite a bit of raunchy comedy here, much of it having to do with body orifices, both human, and…not human. Keep the kids at home for this one. (running time 1:23)