Spy

Spy tells the story of Susan Cooper an analyst for the CIA, stuck a vermine-infested desk job (from bats to rats, they’re suffering in that basement). She’s the eyes and ears for special agent Fine who’s looks and skills can definitely be defined by his name (played by Jude Law). She has a huge crush on him, practically loves him, while Fine gives her backhand compliments and almost rude gifts like a cheap crazy cupcake necklace in a fancy box.

During a mission and against Susan’s wishes, Fine infiltrates Rayna Boyanov’s (played by Rose Byrne) house and gets killed by her hand. Susan is beside herself. But when the agency realizes that Fine as well as the rest of the field agent’s identities are compromised they must find a new field agent to continue the mission. That’s when Susan Cooper comes in, since she was only a desk agent her identity is safe. She volunteers to go undercover to locate Rayna so the agency can seek revenge and also find the bomb that she is hiding. 

 With the help of her best friend desk buddy, Nancy (played by Miranda Hart) as her eyes and ears she locates Rayna. Once seeing Rayna, things go a little haywire and Susan takes it into her own hands to claim she is a new hired bodyguard in order to not blow her cover. She claims Rayna’s father hired her in order to gain Rayna’s trust so she can locate the bomb and thus save the day. 

The mission isn’t safe from mishaps, especially thanks to a secret agent named Ford (played by Jason Statham). He pops up during her missions to make sure she is not messing up and actually he messes up plans for her. Ford is strong, dumb, yet oddly lovable and insanely funny. 

The one on one scenes with Rayna and Susan are brilliantly hilarious. Byrne and McCarthy’s comedic chemistry together erupts in a volcano of laughs. Byrne’s character compares McCarthy’s to a dirty old clown, and McCarthy tells her she looks like a slutty dolphin trainer. Yet the characters have a respect for each other, even Reyna almost smiles for Susan at the end.

The cast overall is near perfect with Rose Byrne playing the biggest bad guy with the biggest hair to go with it. She’s frail, evil, and proves Byrne is insanely versatile. It makes you question is there anything she cannot do? Miranda Hart is a relatively new actress but her one-liners and eager-beaver attitude as Nancy makes it hard not to like her. McCarthy’s physical humor excels in this film. There are no easy obese jokes as some previous films and she actually kicks butt as a spy. The insane fight scenes where McCarthy holds her own and takes down a number of guys are especially excellent. If that’s not a subliminal message for feminism and “girls kick butt” then I don’t know what is. But it is Jason Statham’s Ford that steals the show. His parody version of himself in previous films and spy movies everywhere is just spot on and such a clever character to add into the mix.

Overall, Spy blends action and comedy in a way we haven’t seen made successful in recent history. With both the protagonists and antagonists played by women, it proves that spy movies isn’t just a man’s genre anymore. The film is definitely Melissa McCarthy’s best. It highlights her physical humor and snarky dialogue. She proves to be one of the best comedic talents — male or female — out there.