One of the first things that one learns in Richard Linklater’s I Spy is the importance of identifying the characters. The movie features a family consisting of two kids (Nicolas Cage and Emily Blunt) and their father, a retired police officer, played by Robert Duvall. Since the two kids are separated from each other, they go out on a date every now and then and on this particular day, they meet for the first time in the cinema room of their elementary school.
Despite of the heroines’ different personalities, the script seems to work out an extremely fluid motion so that it is impossible for the viewer to distinguish between the two women. Nonetheless, the scenes are intense, and the screenplay manages to bring a certain realism in the movie, at least in some of the scenes.
The first scene in the movie is the one where the kids are going out for a picnic. While walking along the street, the kids run into their friend’s house. As soon as the kids enter the house, Robert Duvall (Robert Duvall is a career actor, but he has made his mark in the movies as a serious man) tries to stop them from entering, but the girls ignore him. A week later, after a very intense argument between the two girls, Robert Duvall gives them both some lessons.
Robert Duvall says that one should never point out to your friend that they are mistaken in a judgment because it will make things worse. That’s one of the lessons that the kids are supposed to learn. The lesson is that you have to be able to accept criticism.
The next scene is with Robert Duvall, who is an experienced detective and he wants to test his powers of observation on Nicole and Emily. He enters the bedroom of Nicole and Emily, and at first he can clearly see the fact that she is lying down in bed. He continues to observe her until he notices her hands. After that, he decides to make a surprise visit to the friends’ house to check if she really has died.
It would appear that Robert Duvall finds out that Nicole and Emily are still together. It appears that he cannot distinguish between what he sees and what is actually happening and he finds Nicole and Emily to be friends.
On the second day, the girls are hiding in their house, trying to avoid their teacher, even though he has been threatening them all day. When they finally reveal themselves, they notice Robert Duvall and ask him to leave.