2015 Films: #6. Spy

Friday June 26th in Chicago, IL.

Another film I wouldn't normally see but my fiance and I had a social function to attend in the same area as the AMC 21 on E. Illinois and the 6:45 show fit nicely into our plan. This film received a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes so it was worth a look. To be fair, I had low expectations and I was quite surprised by how funny it was. Paul Feig wrote and directed this pseudo-spoof on spy tropes. The film stars Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper, a low level CIA agent who is the "eyes & ears" of Jude Law's Bradley Fine. Fine gets all the glory (and perks) in the field while Cooper has to fend off vermin in the office as she gets Fine through is predicaments.

Without spoiling too much, a series of unfortunate events leads Cooper to be put in the field in order to stop a nuclear arms sale. Cooper successfully bumbles her way through leads despite having to put up with Ford's (Jason Statham) hijinx that nearly gets him killed. Come to find Cooper is actually a better field agent than Ford. Suffice to say Cooper saves the day and becomes a full fledged field agent.

There's a lot of funny stuff going on, nothing that hasn't been done before but who cares it works. Cooper gets saddled with silly cover IDs and she only starts getting success when she ditches her awful covers complete with bag wigs, ridiculous clothes and gadgets (spy stuff disguised as hemorrhoid cream and what not). Funny. McCarthy did well with the material delivered well. There were some scenes that weren't that good but that had nothing to do with her performance. McCarthy carries the film and she does a good job under Feig's direction. The only thing that didn't work for me was Rose Byrne's performance as the villain trying to sell the nuclear bomb. Miranda Hart was great as Cooper's CIA pal Nancy who helps Cooper out. Peter Serafinowiz was very funny as Aldo, Cooper's sexed up Italian contact who is constantly coming on to her.

Feig directed the runaway hit Bridesmaids and Spy will pass the $100 million domestic gross mark within a few weeks at the most. He seems to have a recipe for success and that should give hope for his upcoming Ghostbusters 3 feature.