In the new Netflix comedy The Spy Undercover, Ted Danson plays a retired widower named Charles who takes a new job as a private investigator’s assistant.
The series is based on the film Double Agent, the true story of an 83-year-old man who goes undercover in a nursing home to investigate crimes. However, despite A Spy Undercover being based on a true story, the Netflix series took a number of creative liberties.
Is A Spy Undercover based on a true story? Find out what’s true in the series
Double Agent (2020) is a documentary about Sergio Chamy, an 83-year-old Chilean who is hired by a private investigator to infiltrate a nursing home. To do this, Chamy poses as one of the elderly people living in the community, moving there and approaching other residents, all to obtain information.
In the Netflix series A Spy Undercover, Charles (Danson) is encouraged by his daughter to find a way to fill the void in the days following his wife’s death. Browsing through the classifieds, Charles discovers a vacancy for a detective assistant. Once hired, he is asked to go undercover in a nursing home to investigate the disappearance of a necklace whose value is inestimable.
The main difference between the two stories is the cause of this investigation. While the series sees Charles investigating a possible robbery, Sergio Chamy was hired for a more troubling reason: allegations that the nursing home mistreated its residents.
The inspiration for A Spy Undercover
Luckily, at the end of Double Agent, Chamy discovered that there was no mistreatment of the residents. However, before leaving the nursing home, she said her biggest discovery was that the residents feel very alone indeed.
This same problem was embraced by Michael Schur, creator of An Undercover Spy. According to himthe purpose of the series is simply to discuss a topic that very few people talk about: aging. And he adds: “in this country (the United States) we see old age as something almost shameful.”
The series Um Espião Infiltrado is available for streaming on Netflix.
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Source: Olhar Digital
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
