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Imagine, if you will, what a Bond flick would be like if 007 didn't quite have what it took to impress women and needed a little bit of help from his mom (here a smokin' Angie Harmon), and the cute girl whose locker was near his in high school. That's Agent Cody Banks in a nutshell. My own personal tastes actually put this one a bit higher on the totem pole than Spy Kids, however - that first film in the trilogy was all shake and no twist for me - so while Agent Cody Banks still makes for a bombastically grating film experience, there are definitely things in it to appreciate.

Let's start with Frankie Muniz, a young actor I really have nothing against. But never having been much of a "Malcolm in the Middle" fan, I felt his same- old same-old turn in Big Fat Liar was boring and uninspired. So even though he isn't expanding his dramatic range in Agent Cody Banks, at least there he does seem like he's having a lot of fun. And it rubs off. Many of Muniz's monologues and wordy dialogue exchanges with the technical members of his CIA operatives team are a bit hard to swallow, but when he's just a kid trying to get out of mowing the lawn or trying to find a way for Freshman-year hottie Hillary Duff to give him the time of day, he's an effortlessly involving on-screen presence. Like the parade of actors who have played James Bond, roles like this don't require a lot of deep thoughts and sweaty brows - you just have to play it cool.

The film's supporting cast is also notable. Angie Harmon has a pivotal role as Banks' mentor of sorts, and she's able to both fill out her leather jumpsuit wonderfully (yow!) and turn on the charm when she needs to, even when in full mother-figure mode. She's a hoot. And Hal Hartley mainstay Martin Donovan even pops up as an anxious scientist, positive that "something bad is going to happen very soon". (Surprise! He turns out to be right and Cody Banks has to come save the day! Snore!). Despite the stock character, he still seems to be having fun with such a slight caricature.

Perhaps the strangest thing about Agent Cody Banks, however, can be found in its credits. I tried discerning while watching the picture just how one of the film's many executive producers could have turned out to be none other than the queen of box-office poison, Madonna. I don't know how she got involved with a project like this, or whether the film looked a lot different when she signed on (typically pictures with eight executive producers(!) have gone through many a painful reconstruction) but I kept an eye out for any subject matter that would have seemed to jive with Ms. American Life's usual preoccupations. But I couldn't find any. Weird.

Anyway, for what it is, Agent Cody Banks isn't that strong of a picture but it still comes off better than it has a right to. There are even some cool action scenes - the skateboard chase at the beginning is expertly crafted and genuinely suspenseful - so there is probably enough here to both engage the kids and not make the grown-ups gag.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Agent Cody Banks is presented quite nicely here in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Overall, it is quite strong, with solid blacks and strong contrast. The film's color palette is reproduced with a tad bit of smearing and lack of definition, although heavily-saturated and brightest hues actually come off the best. Detail is nice and sharp and edge enhancement and haloing are kept to a minimum, resulting in a generally detailed image. All in all, a nice transfer.

Also included is a full-screen version of the film on the flipside of this DVD-14 disc.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix included here is pretty strong if a bit music- heavy. Channel separation is utilized to moderate extent, and while effects and atmospherics are regularly allocated to the surround channels with impressive clarity, the mix as a whole is quite front- heavy. On the plus side, dialogue is crisp and clear. The film's omnipresent music score is also aesthetically pleasing, but it does come on a bit strong and usually through the front two speakers. More rear presence would have helped balance it all out. The .1 LFE channel doesn't get too much of a workout here, either, so this ends up being a pretty good mix, but not a great one.

Also included are French and Spanish 2.0 surround dubs, English, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

First up is the film's screen-specific audio commentary with Frankie Muniz, director Harald Zwart, and bombshell Angie Harmon. These three obviously have admiration and respect for the film, but this commentary track gets old real fast. I had the same issue with Muniz's Big Fat Liar commentary from a while ago: sometimes his enthusiasm and youthful excitement for action scenes make for good listening, but the rest of the time, things get a little boring and the commentary sometimes lags. This is one for diehard fans only.

Next up are tons of featurettes, which this DVD is loaded with. (Unfortunately, it is a little annoying that there is no "Play All" function, as these are all short 6- and 4-minutes segments.) First up is "Developing Cody Banks", a 5-minute behind-the-scenes look at the film's development that is surprisingly more than just a kiddie-flick fluff piece. We get a look at production meetings, the casting process and even tag along as the director and cinematographer go location scouting. It's a keeper. "Creating Cody's World" is a look at the film's production and costume design and is equally revealing. "Posting Cody Banks" peeks into the film's special effects and music soundtrack, and is also significantly more interesting than your typical EPK crap. The "Director's Diary" is an intimate look at what director Harald Zwart had to deal with in terms of bringing his vision to the screen as far as collaboration and budgetary limits were concerned. Next are "Frankie Going Big", a look at Frankie's contribution to the film and his development - both on- and off-screen - during the movie's production; "Agent Action" is a 7-minute look at the often extensive stunt sequences; and "How to Talk to Girls," which makes for a cute showcase of the cast and crew giving Frankie some faux advice on how to get the lovely Hillary Duff to warm up to him. Finally, we have "Makeup Tricks by Hillary Duff," a self-explanatory yet amazingly thorough featurette where Duff gives us some cutesy beauty tips.

Wait, there's more. Next we have two storyboard-to- film comparisons (one follows the film's set-piece skateboard chase and the other documents the movie's finale). The disc I screened had some trouble getting through the multi-angle featurettes, however - my player scrolled through the four different views available, staggering the 90-second narration that ran over it in a quite annoying way. But theoretically, this is quite cool.

Next we have ten minutes of deleted scenes - some interesting additions to what are, in the final film, moderately flat scenes as well as additional sequences that were cut for obvious reasons. Then we get an outtakes reel and a photo gallery as well as theatrical trailers for Agent Cody Banks but even its upcoming sequel(!) due in theatres soon. Rounding it out are more anamorphic trailers for Legally Blonde 2, Uptown Girls and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Special Edition DVD.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts