"Spy" (2015)

It must be pretty cool to be Melissa McCarthy. Chubby but fun. She has deep seeded self-loathing that women who do own a lot of cats must feel. But being inadequate in Hollywood standards also has its heroine. It’s not a bad thing that McCarthy is that person.

She plays a basement dwelling  C.I.A. operative that assist with real spies. In this case, it’s a man she has a crush on. Super spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law). Things go from odd to weird when she is placed into active field duty when he is assassinated. This is where the viewer either plays along or just hates the movie. And it’s going to suck if you hate the movie, because it goes really long from here. I went along with it. Hell, I paid the $3.00 at the cheap theater to see it with a band of chatty Latinas behind me. Fuck them.

Anyway, I did enjoy this movie. Although I hated “Bridesmaids” directed by the same guy Paul Feig. Here he also brings back Rose Byrne. Since she’s so beautiful, why not let her be the villain again? She is the light of the movie actually. Ripping McCarthy apart with her East Euro candor. They just don’t have a filter for rude. She’s the spoiled heiress to a very bad man. Unfortunately, if you stop to think about the twists and turns, you will hurt yourself with how much you hate Feig for how ridiculous it becomes. For instance, though they all work for the C.I.A. (USA) everyone speaks with a British accent. As if the script was written by a child who had no clue as to who the C.I.A. was. If you think this is funny (which I did) then you’ll go along with it. If you think this is infantile, it’ll drive you nuts from this point on.

HOWEVER, the laughs still do come quick. You can tell where they loop lines to fix dead air, or let things run long for the humor to really stick. This may be annoying to a lot of people.

The one thing though…in regards to McCarthy…her schtick is fairly standard for her now. It’s a mix between sarcasm and babbling idiot. She calls it like it is, but what she calls it like is to diffuse the terrible thing for which is about to happen. Or to mask uncomfortable banter. I think a lot of people may find this absolutely shitty for the upcoming “Ghostbusters.” Or it could work. I think Bill Murray has a similar delivery. Speak whatever comes to mind, regardless of who is within earshot. This is silly, no doubt. It was fun for this movie. May fizzle if overdone.

My friend told me one time about something he read where they now include a character in movies that are more in the know of the silliness of the plot. This is simply to address the audiences’ sophistication of movie logic. For instance in “Jurassic World” you have the gen-Xer who was a teen when the first “Jurassic Park” was released. He wears the t-shirt and warns of the imminent danger from the first movie. In McCarthy’s case, she IS that person. And she’s also the lead. Do with that information as you wish.

I do believe Feig is the master now of modern woman empowerment. I like that he doesn’t hammer it into your head. There are small moments that make women not hate each other. This is really wise and nice. Is it honest in the real world? Probably not if all the spy women were in love with the same guy. But, he does a great job in both criticizing women hating on other women, and women working together for a cause. To his credit, he’s pretty much dodged the “feminist” label while still making that type of movie. I enjoyed “Spy” but I doubt it will linger a that long. Which, I felt the same about “The Heat.”