Spy
Starring:
Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Jason Statham, Miranda Hart
Directed By: Paul
Feig
Written By: Paul
Feig
117 Minutes Rated MA
Melissa McCarthy is a very funny woman; great timing and
places herself in situations that lend themselves to a hearty laugh. She makes
brave and wise choices and brings delight to an audience – ah how refreshing is
that when you go to a cinema these days.
This comedic confection is a send up of Bond, Spooks and a
bit of Bourne. When Jude Law as super spy Bradley Fine is ‘taken care of’ by
nasty Rayna Boyanov(splendidly played by Rose Byrne although she needs to
return Gillian Anderson’s annoying Brit accent to her) Melissa as Susan Cooper steps
up to avert nuclear destruction and give Byrne what for. She has been in the
ear of Law as his guide in tricky situations literally speaking into his
earpiece and warning him of where baddies are when Law is trying to take them
down. It’s a sexy little deceit and works well as a good stepping off point for
the film.
Beautiful shots of Paris and Budapest were particularly
thrilling and the staging showed this relatively ‘small’ comedy had a hefty
budget.
Melissa carries the film perfectly, Law is splendid as
Bradley Fine (I could see him as the
next Bond but maybe that ambiguous sexuality would be too much for the
diehards), Byrne works well and Bobby Cannavale (Byrne’s real life partner)
puts in a good turn as Baddie number two. Add Jason Statham as the big talking
but incompetent agent Rick Ford for some delightful self-deprecation of an
action hero. If that isn’t enough the
incredible and incomparable Miranda Hart steps away from TV (‘Miranda’ and
‘Call the Midwife’)to steal her scenes while giving perfect support to Melissa
and showing the big screen is ready for her.
Action aplenty with the suitable infusion of slapstick, car
chases and comedy business makes this film simply a really good hoot. Oh sure
it’s tosh and it lacks sophistication but frankly I don’t give a good god-damn.
I cringed at times with some of the corniness for sure but mostly I laughed and
laughed. Paul Feig wrote and directed another of my favorite comedies
‘Bridesmaids’ and he has done another hilarious job again.
I notice some reviews question the film’s feminist
credentials while others hail it as a benchmark for celebrating the feminine
hero. I have to say I did not notice any particular emphasis on whether the
main characters/heroes were male or female. To me it was a story of a spy and
her antics in dealing with baddies and some of her less able cohorts. I’m not
sure how it fares on the Bechdel test; there are two women in it who talk to
each other and not about the men as ‘men’ so it ticks boxes but really was that
deliberate or just the way it turned out?
Call me stupid but I was simply looking for entertainment and I got what
I wanted.
If ‘Mad Max’ is too popular to get into, ‘Woman in Gold’ not
your cup of tea or ‘A Royal Night Out’ is your idea of self-flagellation then I
unreservedly recommended ‘Spy’ to you.
3 ½ out of 5
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