Jason Statham should really consider doing more comedies. Who knew the guy had such a knack for it? The top billing may read “Melissa McCarthy and Paul Feig”, but it’s Statham who actually steals the show. Not that McCarthy doesn’t hold her own. That isn’t the case at all. In fact, each member of this all star cast pulls their comedic weight to bring together one of the most entertaining action-comedies in quite a while.
In Spy, Melissa McCarthy stars as Susan Cooper, a CIA agent, who despite being skilled herself, spends her days assisting super secret agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) from an earpiece and an office desk. That changes when wealthy Bulgarian heiress, Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), discovers the identities of every CIA field agent forcing CIA head, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) to send soft spoken Susan undercover to prevent Boyanov from selling a nuclear bomb.
The chemistry between the cast is solid and each character gets their comedic moment to shine. If you aren’t a fan of McCarthy’s potty mouth routine, then you’ll be turned off by this film. If you are anything near a casual fan of McCarthy, you’ll find her hilarious in this role. Byrne, who we’ve seen do comedy before (Bridesmaids, Get Him to The Greek, Neighbors) doesn’t miss a beat as the film’s villain and Miranda Hart is equally enjoyable as Susan’s unassuming best friend. But as mentioned before, Statham is a scene stealer as Agent Rick Ford, an obnoxious caricature of the characters Statham usually plays in his movies. He spends the entire film spouting off his numerous accolades while giving one hilariously unbelievable tale after another.
The film isn’t nearly as funny as Bridesmaids, but does include enough side splitting moments to put it a step above Feig and McCarthy’s last team-up, The Heat. And when it isn’t making you laugh, Spy manages to captivate with a fair share of impressive action sequences. After last summer’s flop, Tammy, it’s good to see that McCarthy can still hit our funny bones. And it’s also good to see an action comedy that manages to succeed at delivering an entertaining story about an unassuming hero that defies the norm.
FINAL GRADE: B+