Spy

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Allison Janney, Morena Baccarin, Raad Rawi, Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, Ben Falcone, 50 Cent
Directed by: Paul Feig
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A CIA analyst (Melissa McCarthy) reluctantly enters the field to prevent a global crisis.

Review:

Tim: I'd heard surprisingly good things about Spy. I have to admit I entered this film with some trepidation- McCarthy has made some hilarious movies, but it seems like she's better in a supporting roles. Films that put her front and center like Identity Thief or Tammy have been pretty bad. Fortunately, this film surrounds her with a strong cast and manages to be a very effective comedy. It'll never be mistaken for a classic, but it was entertaining and it made me laugh.

The movie starts out a bit slow and wasn't very funny. It really picks up steam when McCarthy gets into the field and isn't the shy, reserved person any more. Some of the funniest moments of the film are when she lets loose on other characters. That's when McCarthy is at her best- when you pull out all the stops and let her go. The profanities and mean things she flings at other characters was absolutely hilarious.

McCarthy overall was very funny. As mentioned, she's most entertaining when she can tap into her foulmouthed, antagonistic self. She's hilarious. When she's forced to act too much or too much outside of her comfort zone, things are less entertaining. As a whole, though, she gave an impressive performance. It helped greatly that her supporting cast was so unbelievably strong. I loved Jason Statham playing a spoof of his usual characters. I loved that he embraced his ridiculous side and had fun with the role. Rose Byrne continues to prove she's one of the most versatile actresses in Hollywood. I really like her and she delivers another strong performance here. She has serious range as an actress. Jude Law was fine, although I felt like he was the weakest of the big four. He was okay spoofing the James Bond-type spy, but his performance just felt too forced to me. There's a lot of strong supporting work from Allison Janney, Morena Baccarin, and others. The cast was seriously strong here.

The story itself was secondary. That's a big complaint I have about the movie. It was about nuclear weapons, spy double crossing, and all that. None of it felt particularly interesting or memorable. It's the same old spy story, and the only purpose it has is to move our characters forward to the next funny scene. The story is mostly predictable and not especially compelling. It was fine, but one of the weaker aspects of the film.

Like you might expect, there's quite a few jokes that fall flat and some stretches of the film that aren't very funny. It also felt like there were a number of scenes left on the cutting room floor, which created some confusion. For example, I still don't fully understand all the cakes- that felt disconnected from everything else. Anyway, while not all the jokes work, you're going to have that in films like this. That might be a bit problematic, but I'm able to forgive most of those. I'll happily sit through a few dud jokes if there's a really belly laugher coming. This movie did make me laugh pretty hard in numerous places- that's a big positive.

In the end, Spy will never be a classic comedy, but it's significantly better than the last several Melissa McCarthy comedies. It's a funny, entertaining movie and does a good job of spoofing a tired genre. I had a good time with this movie and agree with most of the critics- this film is a winner.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Ghostbusters, Bridesmaids