2015 will be remembered as a pretty decent year for spy
movies; 'Kingsman The Secret Service' was a lot of fun, the latest Mission
Impossible film looks entertainingly crazy, the Men from 'UNCLE' are revived
for a big screen debut in August, and, of course, November will see James Bond return to
take on his classic nemesis in 'SPECTRE'.
In the midst of these arrives 'Spy', an action-comedy starring Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law and Jason Statham.
I'm loathe to call it a 'spoof', as 'Spy' does make an effort to
establish itself as an actual spy movie - you've got the CIA, satellite
surveillance, terrorist threats, assassins.
At the same time though it is clearly aware of the tropes of the
genre. Law's character Agent Bradley Fine is an American
proxy of Bond, with all the suaveness and moves, but not above a tragically
mis-timed case of allergies. His support
comes in the form of CIA analyst Susan Cooper (McCarthy), a 'voice' in his earpiece
who uses satellite, infrared (and perfectly timed missile strikes!) to help him carry out his missions. When the daughter of a deceased villain (Rose Byrne) plans to sell a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group the CIA has to track
her down - but her apparent knowledge of all their field agents threatens to
prevent any attempt to pursue her. Susan
steps forward to volunteer gathering intel in the field, as who would suspect a
plump and dowdy woman from tech-support of being, in reality, a CIA spy?
The first act of this film is arguably the weakest, and
threatens to scupper the whole thing before it's already got going. Much of the 'humour' comes from McCarthy's
weight and the manner of her character, because she looks like the 'kind of woman'
who would be a cat owner - obviously because she's single and lonely, and no
one would like her because she doesn't have the super-model looks of CIA agent Karen
Walker (Morena Baccarin). Similarly,
this extends to Miranda Hart's fellow CIA support person Nancy, due to her
being tall etc etc. Given as we have an
actress capable of playing ferocious yet/or vulnerable characters, and a writer/director
in Paul Fieg who has professed to being a fan of funny actresses (he gave the
world Bridesmaids and will next be directing the female Ghostbusters team),
this is not just a disappointment; it feels very misjudged. It also depends on your preferences, but
humour based upon un-confident people being put through awkward situations to
be laughed at by their physical/social 'betters' just makes me cringe; it feels
cheap, easy and a waste of the talents of all involved. Thankfully, this film has an ace up its
sleeve - in reality Susan is as competent a field agent as any of her colleagues
(and quite a bad-ass to boot), and as the film goes on this becomes abundantly
clear, to mostly great comedic effect.
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| The film frequently makes fun of how some people might pigeon-hole Susan Cooper (McCarthy) due to her appearance; it rises above this by revealing Cooper to be a capable and pretty bad-ass agent |
In many ways, this film plays it safe; the plot is not the most original or most convincing spy caper put to film, the action is adequately but not spectacularly handled; but as a vehicle for the comedy it does just about enough. McCarthy is funniest at her most bolshy and foul-mouthed - again, we've seen this before from her in other films so it feels like a safe thing for it to do (also, it means the film lives or dies on whether or not you find her funny at all; if you don't, this film won't likely win you over). Miranda Hart brings her goofy, slightly awkward yet enthusiastic 'jolly hockeysticks' persona to the role, again not a stretch, but she doesn't get in the way of the film nor feel like a major asset (though she does get a couple of very funny moments). Having said that, the film's greatest asset - and biggest surprise - is Jason Statham as CIA agent Rick Ford; you'd have been forgiven for not thinking him capable of comedy, but here he makes a fantastic double-act with McCarthy, getting the share of the film's funniest lines. Great comedy works best when there's a straight man, although you could argue Statham's character - a crazy riff on some of the action roles he's best known for - isn't quite in that mould. He delivers his lines with a great intensity, aided by the slightly psychotic glint in his eye (which is no doubt due to the fact he is visibly doing all he can from bursting in to laughter).
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| The funniest scenes arguably are those containing Jason Statham. Who'd have thought it? |
'Spy' isn't the most memorable or original film to turn
the genre to comedy, and it doesn't feel like much of a stretch for a lot of
its headline cast. It overcomes a weak
beginning and some potentially patronising body-stereotyping humour to deliver some
very funny moments, and in Jason Statham one of the most surprising and
effective assets a comedy has delivered.
While not an instant classic like the immensely likeable 'Bridesmaids',
it is an effective and mostly funny vehicle for McCarthy and her supporting
cast; but it's Jason Statham who gives this film the lift it needs to be
something that might have otherwise been rote and forgettable.
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