Melissa McCarthy has been slowly working away at becoming one of the funniest women in Hollywood for quite some time. Her performance inGilmore Girlsas Sookie put her on the map but her performance inBridesmaidsas Megan made people stand up and take notice of her comedy prowess.
While not everything can be a hit, the 2015 action comedySpyshould have made a much bigger impact than it did. While it wasn’t a flop by any means, it isn’t held in as high regard as it should be. Let’s take a look at thisunderrated spy spoofand why it deserves more love.
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Written and directed by Paul Feig,Spystars McCarthy as Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst, which means she sits at a desk all day and does all the work while Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) looks cool and gets all the credit. As is customary in these films, Susan is more than a little in love with her secret agent charge, and he is oblivious to this fact as is evident when he gifts her with a “crazy cupcake” necklace after a successful mission.
Fine is by no means dismissive of Susan’s contribution to the team, but Susan wants more and has always hoped to be a real spy. After a mission to apprehend arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) goes wrong and Fine is killed and the identities of the top operatives have been leaked, Susan goes into the field to track down Boyanov and get revenge. The audience is also introduced to volatile Agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham), who gives anincredible comedic performanceas the hot-tempered and gullible spy.
Ford is not supposed to go on the mission and even quits the agency, yet still keeps popping up at inopportune moments to list off his insane feats of machismo and get in the way. After things go awry in France, Susan changes identities and heads to Italy where she is met by ludicrous foreign agent Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz) who is an over-the-top Italian stereotype and also once again finds herself on the end of one of Ford’s machismo tirades.
Susan also finally comes face to face with Rayna and instead of letting her get poisoned, she saves her and accidentally becomes her bodyguard. A character who is foul-mouthed and not dissimilar to Ford. The dynamic in the relationship between Rayna and Susan once she assumes this identity is where the bulk of the comedy comes from in the film.They are polar opposites, displaying the Laurel and Hardy body type dynamic and Rayna sees Susan as beneath her from the beginning.
Rayna perpetually makes fun of the way Susan dresses, for no reason, while Susan mocks Rayna’s birds' nest hair and bird-like frame. The two frequently descend into screaming matches with both trying to maintain their tough personas and Susan tries to maintain her cover and figure out who is buying the nuclear bomb from Rayna.
Meanwhile, back in America, Susan now has her own analyst in her best friend Nancy (Miranda Hart). Once Susan goes dark while with Rayna, Nancy appears on the scene and her ineptitude in the field adds another layer of slapstick as she fumbles and wheezes while trying to save Rayna from unknown assassins. This sequence showcases whereSpytruly succeeds which is ajuxtaposition between really silly comedy and high-octane action.
In truth, Rayna is not a smart woman. The fact that she has managed to become an international arms dealer and seemingly powerful criminal is purely based on her father’s empire. Even at the end of the film when she is arrested, Rayna starts listing off things she wants Susan to do for her, to which Susan responds “Do you still think I work for you?!” In the end, there is grudging respect between the two women, and it could even be interpreted as friendship.
A lot of the truly bizarre and funniest moments in Spy do come from the supporting cast of characters, not to do a disservice to McCarthy who shines once she becomes Rayna’s fake bodyguard. Serafinowicz as Aldo is an absolutely bizarre, woman-obsessed agent with a strange accent and stranger sense of humor. His final scene in the film sees him reveal to Susan that he is actually a British agent, although he immediately casts this into doubt by slipping between accents and posing the question himself.
Statham as Ford is the standoutof the film. His unhinged, hyper-macho, pseudo-super spy is so laughable and such a clear send-up of his own image and past roles that it adds an extra wink to the audience. Seeing the usual hard man poke fun at himself so readily is a treat, during one of his boastful monologues of manly deeds he even references theCrankseries when he talks about using a defibrillator on himself.
Spymay not be the most sophisticated film, but it is very funny and a more than effective action film. Seeing a larger woman actually be an action hero is a refreshing change, only marred by the constant need for her appearance to be mocked. Once Susan actually begins to believe in herself and do what she is more than capable of, the film takes a turn from so-so comedy with funny moments to a full comedy/action caper.
Unfortunately, a sequel toSpydoesn’t look like it will be coming anytime soon, despite a call for it. 20th Century Fox was the producing studio, and they also hadThe Kingsmanseriesunder their belt which made much more of a commercial impact. Now, with the studio acquired by Disney, there is a chance for a sequel in the future at least, although as a standalone action comedy, it’s hard to do better thanSpy.
