When I think of movies about covert agents being stuck behind enemy lines in Cold War era Russia, my mind obviously goes to the 1985 classic, Spies Like Us. The new Apple TV comedy Mayday is giving off similar vibes, with Ryan Reynolds as a Navy pilot stranded in Soviet Russia.
The film is written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo whose comedic work gave us Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Game Night, and Vacation.
Because this kind of movie works best as a buddy comedy, Kenneth Branagh plays the Russian former KGB officer with an affection for American pop culture, who somehow takes a liking to Reynolds and becomes his only hope of escape.
Also in the cast are Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński, Clark Johnson, and David Morse.
SYNOPSIS: Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh team up in “Mayday,” a genre-bending, action-packed buddy comedy that flips the spy thriller on its head. When hot shot U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly (Reynolds) is sent on a top-secret mission into Russian territory at the height of the Cold War, the operation implodes, leaving him stranded behind enemy lines. Discovered by Nikolai Ustinov (Branagh), a gruff ex-KGB agent with a penchant for American culture, Troy thinks he’s toast – but could an unlikely alliance between the two lead to Troy’s rescue, and a bond neither saw coming?
Mayday hits Apple TV on September 4th.
