REVIEW: Spy

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Paul Feig’s latest comedy couldn’t have come at a better time for star Melissa McCarthy. The actress is a comedic genius with ridiculous improvisational skills, but she’s gotten stuck in a rut over the last few years. After her work in Feig’s Bridesmaids made her a household name, she mostly played variations of the same bizarre, overconfident character (see The Heat, Identity Thief, Tammy and so on).

I get it: the movie was her big break, earning her an Oscar nomination and leading roles after a decade of playing next-door neighbors and best friends. But the law of diminishing returns kicked in and her shtick grew stale. Fortunately, she started to change things up with her work as a struggling single mom in last year’s St. Vincent, but her earnest, confident performance in Spy is on a whole different level. It’s a refreshing change of pace that should launch McCarthy to even greater levels of fame.

She plays Susan Cooper, an ordinary-looking CIA analyst who’s actually the unsung hero behind hotshot agent Bradley Fine’s (Jude Law) success. He gets to jet around the world and take down terrorists, but she’s the woman feeding him info and strategies from her desk. However, after tragedy strikes and the agency’s best operatives find their covers blown, Cooper’s boss (Allison Janney) finally gives her a chance in the field.

And guess what? She’s awesome. Tasked with going deep undercover to track down arms dealers (Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale), Cooper proves she shouldn’t have been behind a desk all those years. But she must also deal with a bitter, out-of-commission agent (Jason Statham) threatening to undermine her mission.

Simply put, Spy is now my favorite Melissa McCarthy movie. No contest. It allows her to indulge her predilection for oddball characters, but in a context that makes more sense – a shrewd agent assuming those roles in an effort to remain undercover. And holy cow is she funny. She delivers so many hilarious, seemingly off-the-cuff zingers that I probably missed half the dialogue because I was laughing so hard. A second viewing is practically required.

McCarthy is obviously the MVP, although her co-stars prove they can keep up. Law is a great sport, employing his leading man looks to play an airheaded James Bond. Byrne (one of my favorite actresses) is fantastic as the main villain, spouting acidic one-liners that are frequently as funny as McCarthy’s. But the film’s most surprising performance belongs to Statham, who is flat-out hilarious; his character is like an angry, foul-mouthed Mr. Magoo, constantly stumbling into situations and making them worse because he doesn’t realize he’s incompetent.

Feig, who’s becoming a better director with each film, doesn’t make one wrong choice for two hours. The characters are relatable despite existing in a heightened reality, the many fight sequences are genuinely exciting (and surprisingly brutal) and everything works together to tell an interesting story. Feig’s screenplay could’ve easily existed as a thin framework to hang jokes on, but he put in extra effort that pays off handsomely. Spy is a must-see.

Spy is rated R for language throughout, violence and some sexual content including brief graphic nudity.

Grade: A-