Of all the rules when making a "buddy" movie, there are two to pay the closest attention to. Rule #1 - don't buddy up with a dog (ask Jim Belushi if you don't believe me). Rule #2 - always remember Rule #1.

In this new comedy, based, in title only, on the mid 1960's television show that starred Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, Murphy and Wilson find themselves unbelievably teamed up to help bring down a European mad man who is selling to the highest bidder the most sophisticated aircraft ever invented. Murphy is boxing champion Kelly Robinson, Robinson is 56 - 0 and doesn't care who he lets know it. He also has an annoying habit of speaking about himself in the third person. Wilson is government agent Alexander Scott. He has just been promoted to "special" agent and longs for a case where he can go on a "stakeout" with fellow agent Famke Jannsen. Instead, he is assigned to accompany Murphy to Prague for his next boxing match. Oh, by the way. The mad man who wants to sell the stolen plane just happens to be a huge boxing fan. What a coincidence, huh?

The more humorous parts of the film deal with the obvious differences between the two main characters. While Wilson is doing his part for his country, Murphy is more concerned with the parade he keeps imagining he's going to have after he helps save the world. Both actors seem to be having fun and it's a pleasure to see Murphy back in his "48 Hours" wise guy role. If only the plot was more convincing, this film would help erase the memory of the very terrible "Pluto Nash."

Director Betty Thomas has done tv to film before. She directed the film version of "The Brady Bunch." Not only that, she was Officer Lucy Bates on "Hill Street Blues," so she knows a thing or two about television. She has also worked with Murphy before on "Dr. Doolittle," and it's obvious that she trusts Murphy enough to just point her camera and let him shine.

While the plot could have been a little more believable, the performances of Murphy and Wilson rise above the material to make the film enjoyable.

On a scale of four stars, I give "I Spy"