Spy

With Spy, Melissa McCarthy finally gets to stand out on her own and carry a movie by herself.  Not only does she succeed, but she manages to create one of the funniest lead comic performances I have seen in a long time.  She does so with wit, intelligence, and dignity.  With a woman like McCarthy, who doesn't exactly fit the Hollywood leading lady mold, it would be all too easy to mock her, or make her the butt of the joke.  What makes her so memorable is that she doesn't fall into that trap, and comes across as smart, sympathetic, genuinely funny and sometimes hilarious.

The movie reteams her with writer-director Paul Feig, who led her to an Oscar nomination in Bridesmaids, and gave her a blockbuster with The Heat.  Feig truly understands how to use McCarthy to the best of her abilities, and that is no more apparent here.  This time, she plays Susan Cooper, a woman who works a desk job at the C.I.A., and offers tactical advice through an earpiece microphone to a suave 007-style secret agent named Bradley Fine (Jude Law, giving a spot on portrayal).  Susan longs to see some action first hand, and gets her chance sooner than expected when her overly serious boss (Alison Janney) offers her the latest mission.  A wealthy arms dealer named Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) has her hands on a nuclear bomb, and is planning to sell it to the terrorist who will oferr her the most money.  Due to a mole within the agency, Rayna knows the face and identity of all of top agents they can send after her.  And so, her boss decides to give Susan a shot at working in the field, gathering information on the villain.

Decked out in some unflattering outfits and alter egos, and forced to use spy gadgets that are disguised as stool softening pills and hemorrhoid patches, Susan quickly finds herself in over her head, as well as competing against a rival agent (a hilarious Jason Statham), who wants to crack the case himself.  But you see, the great thing about Spy is that although Susan is put into embarrassing disguises or situations from time to time, she always manages to get her way out of it, and does so through her own wits.  Susan Cooper is a woman who has not had much luck in life, so she starts the film a little unsure of herself.  But, as she is put into action, she becomes a surprisingly competent secret agent.  In one of the film's better moments, she pulls off a Jackie Chan-style fight sequence in a kitchen, using anything she can get her hands on to fight back against a deadly assailant.  The movie is a comedy, but it contains a number of surprisingly successful action sequences, and a plot that may be a bit convoluted, but features some genuine surprises.

There are a number of huge laughs throughout the film, some of them provided by Feig's script that knows the ins and outs of spy movies and hits the satirical targets perfectly, and many more of them provided by McCarthy's ad libs, which fly fast and score laughs nearly every time.  It would be a crime to ruin any of them, and I am proud to say that the ad campaign has not spoiled all the best parts.  I can also say that it's not just McCarthy who delivers the laughs.  She is backed up by a strong supporting cast, some of whom are not exactly known for their comedic prowess, yet deliver perfectly timed comic performances here.  Jason Statham, in particular, is riotous as a secret agent who enjoys bragging about his past missions and accomplishments, yet never seems to be quite as on the ball as he would appear whenever he's out in the field.  I actually found myself wishing the movie had used him more.  Statham has proved himself to be a terrific action star in the past, and here he gets to parody his own image, and seems to be having a great time.

Spy can often be quite raunchy, and definitely earns its R-rating, but it is never gross or offensive.  There is a good hear behind the film.  We like Susan, and the movie spends its opening half getting us in her corner before she is sent out on her world-spanning adventure.  Even when she is exchanging gunfire and F-bombs with terrorists and rival agents, there is still a certain innocence to the character that I really liked.  McCarthy is even able to bring a certain amount of range in her portrayal of the character.  She's not a bungler, she knows what she's doing, and she seldom if ever is required to do a forced pratfall. (There is one involving a motorcycle, but it can be forgiven.) It would be so easy to make the character a clueless buffoon, or maybe someone who survives on dumb luck alone, but the movie is smarter than that, and ends up being better for it.

I truly hope that this is a comedy that will have strong enough word of mouth to carry it through a good part of the summer, as it definitely deserves it.  This is the star vehicle that Melissa McCarthy has been waiting for, as well as the film her fans have been waiting to see her in.  Spy is a sharp and hilarious movie, and that is something that simply can't be ignored.

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