Spy

Let me get this out of the way real fast: Spy is such a lame title.  That's one of the most uncreative titles I've ever seen and was part of the reason I didn't want to see this movie at first.  It looked like yet another unwanted spy genre spoof that would exploit Melissa McCarthy for being overweight.  We also can't forget that  while she's a very charming actress, McCarthy hasn't starred in a good movie since Bridesmaids back in 2011.  I'm pleased to report that this is, in fact, her best film since Bridesmaids, which is fitting since the two films share the same director, Paul Feig (who writes this time  as well).  McCarthy carries the movie with ease as she endures only some fat-shaming humor while injecting tons of heart into her character.  It's also just a hell of a lot of fun.

Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is a mild-mannered CIA analyst feeling a bit down on herself.  Her partner, a super slick spy named Agent Fine (Jude Law), whose life she saves multiple times a day, doesn't seem to notice that she has feelings for him.  During one of Fine's missions to stop a Bulgarian scientist with a nuclear bomb, things go sour.  The CIA is put in an impossible situation due to a leakage of all their current agents' identities, meaning no one can be safely put out into the field to track down the location of the bomb (and no, they don't have a face/off machine).  Susan, who tested to be a field agent years ago and did amazingly well, volunteers to go undercover and track down the daughter of the man who invented the bomb, Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), as she may be the only one who knows its location.  Susan, who is constantly forced to don hilariously unflattering fake identities, goes beyond her simple protocol of tracking from afar and after a few wacky (and violent) situations, she gains the trust of Rayna and evolves into a better spy than the ridiculously experienced Rick Ford (Jason Statham), much to his dismay.

This is exactly the kind of spy comedy I like: a strong story, endearing characters, spy-movie tropes hilariously turned on their heads, and great action.  If Archer were ever turned into a live action movie, it might resemble something like this.  McCarthy is a sweet character when she's playing the timid Susan, but she really gets to show off some acting muscle when she has to convince Rayna that she's a tough-as-nails body guard in the second act.  The R-rating is mostly earned through the movie's excessive f-bombs, but that's perfectly fine with me.  Every terrible thing Susan has to say to keep up her spy character is clearly making her uncomfortable, but she pushes hard enough to make it all seem convincing.  That's the character getting uncomfortable, which is an acting challenge that McCarthy meets with stunning results.

She's not the only great thing about Spy though.  Statham and Byrne are relentlessly hilarious with their deadpan delivery of some pretty ridiculous lines, often hitting just the right note between taking the material seriously and (with Statham in particular) practically playing parodies of themselves. The characters are also more developed than you might expect, particularly Susan and Rayna, whose friendship develops further the more despicable they are to each other.  Like this year's Kingsmen: The Secret Service, the action is more violent than usual for a comedy and often beautifully choreographed and shot.  No cheap shaky-cam gimmicks and no crazy quick-cutting; this action hits you in the gut like it's supposed to. 

The story does tend to get a little muddled in its betrayals and unnecessary double agent characters, and Jude Law does a less than successful American accent when it actually would have suited his character just fine to be British.  I mean, James Bond is British, isn't he?  There are a few jokes that run on too long, which is understandable when you consider most of the jokes probably involved heavy improvising, but there comes a point when a joke makes its point and you have to move on (especially fat jokes at the expense of the film's star).  Feig had this problem in Bridesmaids and its present and accounted for here in just enough scenes to make it annoying.  There's also a sex-crazed character played by Peter Serafinowicz who's one joke gets stretched far beyond what would have been acceptable.

It can't be said that this is quite as great as Bridesmaids, but it's definitely made with the same spirit.  Spy works as a wacky comedy and as a thriller without getting the two tones jumbled, and that's quite an impressive feat.  While the plot gets a little busy toward the end and not every joke or character knocks it out the park, it's still a fantastically funny ride.  If McCarthy's great performance weren't enough, it's got enough solid action to entertain junkies and enough themes about self-acceptance to give it some substance.  It would be nice to see a sequel does something new with these characters, but in all honesty this is more than enough for me.

8/10