Spy (2015)

"Uh, did you forget? I am undercover because you are not supposed to be here!"

"Well I make a habit out of doing things that people say I can't do: Walk through fire, waterski blindfolded, take up piano at a late age."

Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is a CIA analyst, working out of a rat-infested basement.  She works closely with top agent Bradley Fine (Law) as the voice in his earpiece and surveillance.  While infiltrating Rayna Boyanov's (Byrne) home to find a nuclear bomb, he is killed.  Rayna knows all the identities of all of the CIAs top agents.  Susan volunteers to go into the field to track Rayna, as she has field training and no one knows her.

CIA boss Elaine Crocker (Janney) agrees, despite protests from agent Rick Ford (Statham) and sends Susan to Europe to provide video surveillance of Rayna's activities.  Susan's friend Nancy Artingstall (Hart) is the voice in the earpiece and Italian agent Aldo (Serafinowicz) is her backup.  Can Susan avenge Fine and save the day?


For director Paul Feig's third film (after Bridesmaids and The Heat), he turned to the spy genre.  With Melissa McCarthy, the breakout star from his previous films, in the lead, they set out to make a female-centered spy spoof.

From the opening moments, it is clear that the film won't be like other spy spoofs.  It sets up a solid story, basic spy plot, and then flips it upside down.  It is a comedy James Bond.  The opening credits are an obvious homage to the traditional Bond opening credits.  McCarthy is a female Bond, with impressive skills... while Jude Law plays the traditional, suave Bond.  And Jason Statham's character, as described in the film's press kit (found on the IMDb.com Trivia Page), is described as a cross between Rambo and Inspector Clouseau (from the Pink Panther films)... but is probably the best description for the character.  Statham is best known for his tough-guy action films, and it is fun to see him in something a little different.

The plot (also written by Feig) moves at a nice pace and has a great twist.  It also benefits from a stellar cast, who all throw themselves into the parts.  British actress Miranda Hart is great as Nancy, and hopefully this jump starts her film career (she is hilarious in all the TV roles I've seen).  Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne are just the right amount of evil to be good villains.  And Peter Serafinowicz is ridiculous, but great, as Aldo.

It won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed this film.

Spy (2015) 119 minutes
Rating: R for language throughout, violence, and some sexual content including brief graphic nudity
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper
Jason Statham as Rick Ford
Rose Byrne as Rayna Boyanov
Jude Law as Bradley Fine
Miranda Hart as Nancy B. Artingstall
Bobby Cannavale as Sergio De Luca
Allison Janney as Elaine Crocker
Peter Serafinowicz as Aldo