By TANIA PHILLIPS
SPY (MA)
Starring: Melissa McCarthey, Jude Law.
MOST Spy movies you watch have a handsome man in his thirties and forties running all over the world looking debonair, getting the girl and saving the world.
Spy is not most Spy movies.
Not only is the hero of this movie a woman, she’s a woman over 40 and over-weight.
It’s rare to see someone of this kind on the screen at all (maybe as the wacky friend or crazy cat lady – which writer director Paul Feig takes a dig at during the film) let alone as the star.
Melissa McCarthy (who has well and truly graduated from playing the fat best friend in Gilmore Girls) to unlikely “It” girl of the moment, takes centre stage.
1. McCarthy plays Susan “Coops” Cooper despite having solid field training. CIA analyst Cooper has spent her entire career as a desk jockey, working hand-in-hand with dashing agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law).
2. Using high-tech equipment and a hidden earpiece, Susan, working in appalling conditions in a CIA basement, is the guardian angel who helps Bradley avoid danger.
3. However, when Bradley is assassinated by Bulgarian arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), Susan wrangles her way into her first undercover assignment to help capture Boyanov and avenge Bradley.
4. A brilliantly satirical performance by Jason Statham – sending up just about every “hard-man” character he’s ever played and a fun turn by Peter Serafinowicz as a randy French spy – form a backdrop for the female characters.
5. Alison Janney is, as always, pitch perfect as the CIA head and Miranda Hart as Coops friend in the office and eventual sidekick is hilariously funny. But this is McCarthy’s movie and while she can often go over the top, Feig seems to rein her in just enough to keep this movie bubbling along at a good pace.
There is still plenty of violence and swearing that Spy movies seem to attract these days, but along the way there are plenty of laughs and gentle digs at the misogyny of this genre and stereo-types. But at its heart, this is a fun piece of film-making that kind of sticks to formula while turning a genre on its ear.
Tip – Stick around right to the end of the credits, it’s worth it.
