MOVIE TREATMENT

Title: The Spy Who Couldn’t Tie His Shoe

Genre: Action-Comedy / Spy Parody
Tone: Johnny English meets Naked Gun with a splash of The Pink Panther
Length: 105 minutes (105 pages)
Rating: PG-13 (for mild language, spy-related violence, and intense Velcro-based action sequences)

LOGLINE

When a bumbling secret agent with zero hand-eye coordination is mistakenly assigned to stop an international arms deal, he must save the world — all while tripping over his own untied shoelaces.

INTRODUCTION

MAX PLUM (late 30s) is MI6’s worst-kept secret. A desk analyst turned accidental field agent due to a clerical error involving the words “combat” and “kombucha,” Max is more comfortable alphabetizing intelligence reports than rappelling down buildings. He cannot tie his shoes. Never could. Traumatized at a young age by a rogue bunny ears tutorial, Max has relied on Velcro, loafers, and the kindness of strangers.

But when the agency’s top agents are eliminated during a suspicious Undercover Yoga Retreat in Ibiza, Max is all that’s left.

ACT ONE: THE MISTAKE

MI6 is in panic mode. A new villain, Dr. Doppelgänger, has developed tech that allows him to clone global leaders. The only spy available: Max Plum, whose only field experience involved taking down a vending machine that ate his pound coin.

Agency Director Judith Spleen is desperate. With Max, she assigns her most competent agent, Allegra Fuse (a no-nonsense, parkour-loving legend with a black belt in seven martial arts), to “babysit” Max on what they both think is a low-level diplomatic exchange in Montenegro.

Within five minutes of landing, Max accidentally reveals their cover identities, gets his shoelace caught in a hoverboard taxi, and causes a minor international incident involving a goat, three Russian ballet dancers, and a robotic espresso machine.

ACT TWO: THE MISSION FALLS APART (ALONG WITH HIS SHOES)

It turns out the mission is not low-level. Dr. Doppelgänger is about to auction off a “clone kit” to rogue nations and billionaires (including a tech bro played by a thinly veiled Elon Musk parody). Max must infiltrate the gala, posing as a mysterious arms dealer known only as “The Shoe.”

Problem: “The Shoe” is known for his iconic triple-loop knot — and Max can’t even do a bow. This becomes an ongoing gag: every spy challenge Max faces is somehow tied (pun intended) to shoelaces.

Meanwhile, Allegra is fighting off real enemies, disabling bombs, hacking servers — all while trying to keep Max from getting his foot caught in escalators, bidets, and his own socks.

Highlights include:

• A chase scene through Venice in a gondola powered by foot pedals — Max’s laces tie together mid-chase.

• Max trying to defuse a bomb that has shoelaces as wires — and him insisting “blue bunny over the yellow bunny, right?”

• A tuxedo montage where every pair of dress shoes gets tied… and then immediately untied.

• A dead drop scene where Max accidentally swaps a classified microchip with a Tic Tac.

ACT THREE: UNRAVELED HEROISM

Just when it seems Max has bungled the mission beyond repair, he stumbles upon Dr. Doppelgänger’s secret: the villain’s clone tech has one flaw — the clones can’t tie their shoes. It’s genetic. A trait mirrored in Max. In fact, Max is the perfect infiltrator because Doppelgänger assumes only a clone would trip over their own shoelaces while boarding a private jet.

Max uses this to gain access to the inner circle, pretending to be a clone of himself — a decoy of a decoy. Double agent, double klutz.

He botches a toast, spills champagne on the cloning machine, and inadvertently sets it to self-destruct. Cue a slapstick final act:

• Max and Allegra fight their way out of the lair with a parade of Max clones in tow — all of them tripping, falling, apologizing, and saying “Sorry, is this my shoe?”

• A clone army of global leaders (including three Putins and a confused Oprah) are released — all wearing Crocs.

• Max disarms the last bomb using a Velcro strap he rips off his own shoes — a full-circle moment.

EPILOGUE: THE SHOE FITS

Back in London, Max is hailed as a hero. He’s offered a permanent field agent role, but declines.

Instead, he opens a school: The International Institute of Alternative Footwear Fastening. Their slogan: “Not All Heroes Tie Laces.”

Judith Spleen awards him the Golden Shoehorn of Valor. Allegra admits she respects him (but still refuses to walk near him in public).

Max stumbles offstage, Velcro squeaking triumphantly.

TONE & STYLE

The Spy Who Couldn’t Tie His Shoe is a parody of James Bond tropes, with high-energy absurdity, visual gags, and deadpan British wit. Think gadgets that don’t work, villains who give hour-long monologues to the wrong person, and extended slow-mo sequences of Max tripping over literally everything.

The humor is physical, verbal, and foot-related. Max is part Mr. Bean, part Inspector Gadget, and part Steve Urkel if Urkel had MI6 clearance and adult acne.

CASTING IDEAS

• Max Plum: Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, or Matt Berry

• Allegra Fuse: Jodie Comer, Aubrey Plaza, or Gugu Mbatha-Raw

• Dr. Doppelgänger: Taika Waititi, Christoph Waltz, or Ken Jeong

• Judith Spleen: Emma Thompson or Helen Mirren

TAGLINE

“Saving the world… one Velcro strap at a time.”