"Aw Man, I Was Having Such an Empowering Moment Before."
The last Paul Feig/Melissa McCarthy collaboration I saw was “The Heat”. I enjoyed watching it, and it made me chuckle every once in a while, but I appreciated it more on principle than I actually did as a film in the end. Feig had all the pieces for a good film in his hand, but he hadn’t quite figured out how to use them effectively.
Now I can say after watching “Spy” that Feig has figured out how to best utilize his skills, and those of his collaborators. I feel as though he’s given me a gift; since the start of this year, this is the first film I’ve reviewed in theaters that made me want to turn back around after it was over so I could watch it again.
Now I can say after watching “Spy” that Feig has figured out how to best utilize his skills, and those of his collaborators. I feel as though he’s given me a gift; since the start of this year, this is the first film I’ve reviewed in theaters that made me want to turn back around after it was over so I could watch it again.
Let’s start with the obvious; I want to write a love letter to every amazing actor in this film. Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne do most of the heavy lifting, and when they are on screen together they have a wonderful, biting chemistry that reminds the audience that the secret ingredient to a fascinating hero/villain dynamic is mutual respect. McCarthy’s Susan Cooper isn’t exactly a new character in McCarthy’s oeuvre, but from the first time we see her she feels more fleshed out, more relatable, less like a punchline and more like a capable, if untested, hero. Her John Mclane-esque badassery is thrilling to watch, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give just as much credit to her supporting cast, which is large, dynamic and always responsible for moving the story forward – while all the characters are funny, none of them are played purely for laughs. I especially enjoyed Jason Statham as the hyper-masculine rogue agent Rick Ford, and Miranda Hart as Susan’s overenthusiastic co-worker Nancy, but once again, there is no weak link.
Like the characters in it, the film is funny without drawing attention away from what is actually happening on screen: a high stakes, international spy thriller with an underdog lead. Feig’s script never sacrifices the action for the sake of generating more laughs, and that decision lifts the film from a simple parody to a tight, fast-paced homage. As Susan Cooper makes her transformation from unassuming wallflower to take-charge super spy, Feig puts her through her paces by tossing her into situation after situation filled with enough twists and turns to make James Bond breathless. He does so because he trusts his main character to not merely handle the danger she’s placed herself in, but thrive in the center of it. That level of seriousness and belief in his creation is what makes Feig a great filmmaker; “Spy” could have so easily been a meandering, goofy trifle, but because the story being told is a genuinely thrilling one, it became a great action film that still managed to make me laugh every other minute. It’s such a difficult balance to strike, and Feig and the rest of his team made it look so easy.
“Spy” is a rare comedy that is both funny and exciting, and has the potential to be one of Feig’s most enduring films. It took me from merely liking the Feig/McCarthy team to trusting them implicitly. Yes, yes and YES to everything this movie has to offer.
DRINK:
A martini. Vodka, with olives. Dirty.
POSSIBLE RULES:
-Drink whenever Susan acquires a new outfit.
-Drink when someone is shot.
-Drink when it is revealed that someone has been lying.
-Drink whenever Jason Statham appears in a scene.
-Drink when someone speaks to another over a headset.
This review was written by Hollis Beck (Krissy Pappau). "Spy" was produced by Feigco Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film is rated "R" with a runtime of 120 minutes.
Like the characters in it, the film is funny without drawing attention away from what is actually happening on screen: a high stakes, international spy thriller with an underdog lead. Feig’s script never sacrifices the action for the sake of generating more laughs, and that decision lifts the film from a simple parody to a tight, fast-paced homage. As Susan Cooper makes her transformation from unassuming wallflower to take-charge super spy, Feig puts her through her paces by tossing her into situation after situation filled with enough twists and turns to make James Bond breathless. He does so because he trusts his main character to not merely handle the danger she’s placed herself in, but thrive in the center of it. That level of seriousness and belief in his creation is what makes Feig a great filmmaker; “Spy” could have so easily been a meandering, goofy trifle, but because the story being told is a genuinely thrilling one, it became a great action film that still managed to make me laugh every other minute. It’s such a difficult balance to strike, and Feig and the rest of his team made it look so easy.
“Spy” is a rare comedy that is both funny and exciting, and has the potential to be one of Feig’s most enduring films. It took me from merely liking the Feig/McCarthy team to trusting them implicitly. Yes, yes and YES to everything this movie has to offer.
DRINK:
A martini. Vodka, with olives. Dirty.
POSSIBLE RULES:
-Drink whenever Susan acquires a new outfit.
-Drink when someone is shot.
-Drink when it is revealed that someone has been lying.
-Drink whenever Jason Statham appears in a scene.
-Drink when someone speaks to another over a headset.
This review was written by Hollis Beck (Krissy Pappau). "Spy" was produced by Feigco Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film is rated "R" with a runtime of 120 minutes.
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