Spy review

Melissa McCarthy stars in Paul Feig’s new action-comedy “Spy” and unbelievably they turn out one of their strongest collaborations yet. I say unbelievable because McCarthy’s post “Bridesmaids” career has been a bit hit or miss with successes like Feig’s cop-comedy follow-up “The Heat” and commercial and critical flops like last year’s “Tammy,” an awkwardly pitched passion project co-written by the actress and her husband.  But what makes “Spy” mostly work is that it knows that McCarthy is an actor’s booster-pack. Having worked for years on television’s “Gilmore Girls” she understands scene dynamics and how to play off of her costars in a way that makes her look good and them look better.

McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, the eyes and ears of a suave CIA operative named Bradley Fine (Jude Law). While he’s sneaking around undercover, Susan, who secretly carries a school-girl crush on the agent, tells him how to get in and out of sticky situations via headphone microphone on her computer screen, miles away in a safe rodent-infested office. After Fine is taken out of commission and it is revealed that his killer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) is hunting other known operatives, Susan’s inconspicuous demeanor and her lack of field experiences makes her the ideal candidate to track down the whereabouts of a dangerous arms dealer named Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavalle).

Though McCarthy is the only actor featured on all the posters and the marketing materials mostly show her undercover as an elderly woman in a curly wig and giant glasses, this is not a “Big Mamas House” styled, lazy, costume-comedy. The scenes of her in frump-drag are minimal and the comedy generally comes from the conversational, matter-of-fact riffing performed by the eclectic cast. Jason Statham does his best work in years playing against his own stereotype as a hard-ass killer, delivering some of the strongest and funniest dialogue in the movie. Likewise, the catty exchanges between McCarthy and Byrne are bound to become meme-ready in the coming months, with a crop of shareable Youtube clips.  Allison Janney is reliable as ever as their stone-faced superior and British actress Miranda Hart is entertaining in small doses, until they begins to overuse her.

The film is quite funny, and it knows that it is, and sometimes the problem with self-referential comedies is that they can become too enamored by their own appeal. Unfortunately “Spy” sometimes suffers from the over-exploiting its best jokes. Peter Serafinowicz' horny Italian spy character who can’t keep his hands off of the annoyed protagonist is a cheap gag that never works and almost never ends as soon as it’s introduced.

Sometimes the film can’t decide when to make McCarthy the strong, capable action hero or the bumbling, flakey butt of the joke. McCarthy is game to do either to the best of her abilities, but nobody behind the camera seemed aware that these portrayals clang against each other in the context of the story.  After we’ve seen her help Jude Law through very difficult situations, later in the film there are other moments where she makes the most bone-headed choices for no discernible reason other than to activate a joke.

Nevertheless, even though “Spy” stumbles occasionally, it always managed to surprise me with sharp dialogue, great performances and a real commitment to its filmic references.

Grade: B-

Originally Published in the Idaho State Journal/June-2015