Thursday, January 21, 2016

SPY: WATCH OUT MR. BOND



Melissa McCarthy is an actress who has shown that she can be way off target with some of her films and then rebound to have a direct hit with the next. It’s nice to know she’s willing to take chances but at the same time she needs to have someone there to tell her when things don’t work. If she can do that more often then the odds of her successes will multiply. Consider the fact that she came off the well-made THE HEAT only to come up with TAMMY which was difficult to watch. The good news is that the second film after that one is this week’s top pick, SPY. It is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen all year.

McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, the CIA analyst who makes the top notch spy she works with, Bradley Fine (Jude Law), look good. Through his earpiece and via button camera she helps warn him when someone is behind him, the number of bad guys headed his way and where they’re coming from and steps in via drone when the chips are down. While all of this comes from her computer he gets the credit for being in the field. Without her he’d probably not be the success he is.

But Susan has a secret. She’s fallen for the man she’s supposed to protect. So maybe when she’s doing her job she has a personal interest in him coming back alive as well. When he rewards her by taking her to dinner after a successful mission his reward for her work is less than she expected.

That all changes when Fine, on a job to locate Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), is killed by her after a jamming device prevents Susan from helping him. As Rayna tells Susan via Fine’s camera, she knows the names and identities of the Agency’s top spies. Sending any of them out to locate her would be to condemn them to certain death.

Agency head Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) is looking for options. With a portable nuke about to be auctioned off she’s open to ideas. Headstrong and cocky spy Rick Ford (Jason Statham) insists he go in and when she refuses he leaves the Agency and goes rogue. As a suggestion Susan suggest that she go in. No one know her and she’s the best informed about the case. A surprising review of her early tests scores and footage leaves Crocker with the idea of trying her out and Susan is sent into the field to follow leads and return information only. Of course we are well aware that more than that is bound to happen.

And it does in some hilarious moments. McCarthy is adept at both a quick turn of a phrase as well as the physical aspects of comedy that follows in the footsteps of some of the greats such as Lucille Ball. She never holds back and in the end it pays off. A running joke of Susan wanting to look the part of a glamorous spy and being forced into disguises that make her more cat lady than cat woman works each and every time it’s used here. But can she accomplish the task at hand? Can she locate the nuke before a terrorists gets his hands on it? Only time will tell and that time is well spent watching and laughing out loud at this side splitting film.

Not only does McCarthy turn in a great performance, fans of Miranda Hart will find themselves cheering for her here in the role of sidekick to Susan in the role Susan performed for Fine. Hart is a much loved comedienne in England but not as well known in the states. Hopefully that will be remedied after this film. Jude Law does a great job here as well showing a Bond like character that isn’t quite as much as he thinks he is. And Statham shows that he has a comedic side rarely made visible in most of his films. His madman like over the top spy who appears at the worst moments is always laugh inducing.

While watching this film I found myself laughing more often than not. The true test though was found in my wife whose sense of humor exists but not often to the point that she laughs loudly at most comedies. With this film she was doing just that, a sure sign that the movie worked not just for me but should be one that any and all comedy lovers will enjoy. I doubt there will ever be a cross over between the long running James Bond films and Susan Cooper but it would be hilarious to see it happen. Instead let’s just hope that a follow up is in the works and that time is taken to make sure it fires on all cylinders like this one does.
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