Spy

Melissa McCarthy has been in four starring roles since her breakout screen performance in Paul Feig's 2011 comedy "Bridesmaids". Soon after that film, in 2013, we got "Identity Thief", a shallow and not well received two-hander with Jason Bateman that relied too heavily, no pun intended, on McCarthy as a grotesque. Later that year, she redeemed herself, with Feig again as director, in "The Heat", going head to head with Sandra Bullock. It was lightning in a bottle, or so we thought. That film was an example of two game actresses having terrific on screen chemistry and wonderfully free wheeling dialogue. Both "Identity Thief" and "The Heat" were box office hits. McCarthy had an audience. Yet, only "The Heat" seemed to be interested in McCarthy as a comedienne of merit rather than a punchline. Could she sustain the momentum? Last year's "Tammy" was a success, but it didn't give McCarthy the truly funny material she got when working with Feig. In the new action comedy "Spy" though, Feig and McCarthy have reunited once more, and it may be their best partnership yet.

"Spy" is the most consistently laugh out loud movie I've seen since probably "Neighbors" and a wonderful star vehicle for Melissa McCarthy, who remarkably continues to find new ways to be funny. She can play self-deprecating, tripping over her words, batting her eyelashes, a wallflower in librarian's clothing, as well as she plays outspoken, brazenly vicious wise crackers. Her physical presence is an anomaly in mainstream Hollywood: a large and in charge woman. But through her performances she can uses her body as an asset instead of a liability. She rarely lets herself be the butt of the joke and her mouth is the true weapon. She barks out rapid fire insults as good as anyone. In "Spy", McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst, who we first see guiding and talking in the ear of Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law), through a mission in Bulgaria. We notice how much she likes him as they talk back and forth. She's crushing hard, unrequited love. Her talent also shines through though, and her need to do something more than sit in the basement of the CIA. Does the CIA even have a basement? McCarthy is so good at playing knowing and meek, she makes Law better, he becomes a charming doofus. The opening scene is a frenzy of different comic tropes, and it gives us the writer and director, Paul Feig, balancing action, banter, and sight gags like rats scurrying over computer keyboards, and a sneeze that ends in a bullet through someone's head, seamlessly. 

Melissa McCarthy in "Spy" the new comedy directed by Paul Feig

I'm not sure the film ever equals the comic heights of the those first few minutes, and "Spy" is largely formulaic, following multiple familiar tropes of action comedies past. Still though, instead of a James Bond like figure at its center, we get the fearless McCarthy, and Feig surrounds her with a wonderful revolving door of supporting players. When that first mission with Agent Fine goes fatally wrong, it's finally time for Susan to step up to the plate, to try out being a spy herself. We meet her boss, played by Allison Janney, who berates her, as well as another agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) who has his head so far up his own ass that he's barely aware of Susan at all.

Most of the things that "Spy" does well is turn the spy genre on its head. When we meet Rick Ford you assume he's the one who's going to show Susan the ropes, teach her everything he knows, mold her. Turns out, she knows quite a lot, and is even physically capable. Statham ends up being the best buffoon in the film and the perfect sparring partner for McCarthy. The endless monologues about his own bad-assery are comic highlights and it's a knowing wink to fans of Statham the actual action star, who has probably said many similar things in the various action vehicles he's starred in for years. Even with the very small role that Peter Serafinowicz has with the Italian/ British agent Aldo, Feig is able to squeeze every ounce of comic potential out of a character whose obsession with McCarthy sexually, and his multiple advances towards her, are hysterical, and remarkably not belittling.

The cast of players in "Spy" for is terrific, but I was most enamored with Miranda Hart and Rose Byrne, who play Susan's best friend/ colleague and the primary villain of the movie, respectively. Hart, who is a regular fixture in British television, has dark cropped hair, crooked teeth, and an adorable British accent. She's also very tall, and she towers over McCarthy, the juxtaposition of their contrasting bodies walking side by side is a sight to see. And Hart speaks warmly and befuddled, it balances out the films violence with a sweetness and very specific British bite. And what is there to say about Rose Byrne? She can do anything, and is as deft and varied a comedic talent as McCarthy. As Rayna, the nuke-selling criminal, her hair is piled on top of her head like a demented Marie Antoinette, and she's so vulgar, her put downs flow out of her mouth with gleeful vigor.

In the last few years Paul Feig has done more to solidify the women are funny mantra possibly more than any director in the past decade. When "Bridesmaids" came out so did a million think pieces that commented on the box office potential of women, and specifically, funny women. Are women funny they would ask. This is a question that persists in Hollywood today if you can believe it. Melissa McCarthy, with her specific brand of abrasive, dirty, and physical comedy makes quite a loud point that in fact not only are they funny, but they can indeed make money too. "Spy" is a rare breed: mainstream, violent, women centric, and also, if you can believe it, funny.