Friday, June 5, 2015
Spy
For obvious reasons (being a woman is one of them), the intelligent, amenable, and kind CIA agent Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is placed in a rodent infected basement as a desk jockey to help out her self-centered partner Bradley Fine (Jude Law), who is kicking and shooting in the field. After Bradley is killed by Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), a Bulgarian nuclear arm dealer, Susan is finally sent to the field, but only to "track and report," despite the protest from a cocky but clumsy agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) who wants to take out the terrorists himself.
During her mission, Susan is given different identities that are not quite sexy, but often amusing when she travels to many European countries including Paris. Once she touches the ground and is greeted by a flirtatious and reckless Italian agent Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz), her skill and full potential finally gets to put into action. Her nervous and hilarious desk buddy Nancy Artingstall (Miranda Hart) first provides Susan assistance from the basement, but soon they join force in Europe to track down the nuclear device.
Although the plot sometimes doesn't make much sense, but that hardly matters. The writer/director Paul Feig simply uses the story as a mean to bring out all the fun from these colorful and lovely characters. He doesn't just create the best role for Melissa McCarthy to shine in this film, he also makes great amount of effort to craft each supporting role surrounding her. It pays off handsomely. With superb performances by the straight-faced ensemble cast and pitch perfect deliveries of comical moments, this over-the-top farce successfully entertains us by using both physical comedy and witty one-liners.
It's a sure bet to see Melissa McCarthy in more funny leading roles in future projects. Or put it another way, the audience loves her and wants to see her kicks more butts. She reaches the point of no return.
"Spy," a 20th Century Fox release, opens on Friday, June 5, 2015.