SPY: Temporarily Shaken, But Not Stirred

Like many people, I was a great fan of Bridesmaids and The Heat, so it was likely that the newest film to pair Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy would be right up my alley. Likely, but even I had my doubts over Spy. A spy comedy? Again? Haven’t we done this before? Doesn’t it always turn out the same way? The answer is yes. Luckily for us Feig and McCarthy have ensured that Spy is a solid comedy, and not some silly pastiche. But rather unluckily, it’s one we might not remember after the credits have rolled.

A Spy Like No Other

It goes without saying that Paul Feig is an excellent comedy director, and apparently a good writer as well. In Spy he has cultivated a new and original take on the spy movie. Not only does it spin together all the thoughts and ideas anyone has ever had about a spy movie, but Feig skips over the parody nonsense and makes his protagonist, Susan Cooper (McCarthy), a viable spy. Far from being some fish-out-of-water, like so many other action heroes, she is a CIA analyst with excellent skills but no field experience. Furthermore, she is very good at what she does.

While Cooper is a great female protagonist, it is in his dissection of how women must see spy films (basically Bond films) that Feig really pins down Spy’s narrative. Susan Cooper is smart, logical, she has a bit of a crush, but she’s too realistic to be silly. In fact, she’s the very opposite of a comedy spy. We never laugh at her, we laugh at the world around her. She is surrounded by people (mainly men) who think they’re in a Bond movie and great laughs are had at their stupidity, most notably in the case of Rick Ford (Jason Statham), a cardboard cut-out of a Hollywood spy.

But while Feig has cut an original spy comedy, one which reflects on the silliness of the stereotypical spy, his writing is quite predictable. The plot of Spy is strong and the action and comedy mean you’re never bored. But as a overall story arc, it’s exactly what you’d expect of such a film. In addition to this the laughs, while good, feel like buses. They arrive at regular seven minute intervals by my reckoning, which is a little annoying. Even then they feel like they’re of McCarthy’s making, while scripted jokes fall a bit flat.

Supporting Spies

Spy has a great supporting cast, one that is playing two-dimensional spy parodies, but playing up to them intentionally. How they engage in these comedy roles differs widely. Rose Byrne and Peter Serafinowicz are absolutely brilliant. They really lap up the comedy of the stereotype and fill out their supporting roles incredibly well. Byrne is delightfully bitchy as Rayna, the lead villain, and squares up well against McCarthy’s comic wit. While Serafinowicz really goes for it as Aldo, and impresses with every comic one-liner.

On the other hand, Jude Law (Bradley Fine) and Jason Statham (Rick Ford) kind of let the side down. In any other setting I would blame this on the two-dimensional nature of their roles, but Feig does mean them to be this way. Out of their mouths spill some very well scripted comedy, but it’s not as funny as it could be. This is a bit disappointing, especially in the case of Statham. Rick Ford is a brilliant character. On screen to serve as the dozy wannabe Bond to McCarthy’s Cooper, Statham could have really stolen some of those scenes. But while they are still funny they are not as great as they could have been.

It’s also unfortunate that I don’t think Miranda Hart really gave much on screen, but to be fair, she didn’t have a great deal to do, yet her performance still fell flat. The same could be said for Alison Janney, whose performance felt just okay. It’s possible that the supporting cast were good, but it was just easier for Byrne and Serafinowicz to glean comedy from such great wide-ranging characters. But maybe it’s that if you’re squaring up against McCarthy you better be bringing your comedy A-game.

The Brilliant Ms. McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy is brilliant. The criticism I hear most about her is that her ‘loud’ or ‘over the top’ acting is annoying. I’m not sure what films these people have been watching but the wonderful thing about McCarthy is that her comedy is like, well, a submarine. Always moving about just under the surface, always ready for action. She’s not over the top, she’s subtle, and smart to boot. Her jokes are never obvious or silly, they’re keen and well-observed. So unique are her skills, in fact, that you can pretty much always tell when she breaks away from the script.

McCarthy is fantastic as Susan Cooper. She portrays the right mix of innocence and intelligence, and makes Cooper a real heroine. A real heroine in that as much as she is brave and powerful, she is also sensitive and fretful. A scene in which she confesses to having a crush on Bradley Fine is a small, but perfect gesture on behalf of Feig’s script and McCarthy’s acting. What, she can just say that, and it’s fine? She doesn’t end up looking like a silly girl? Her heroic mask doesn’t have to slip? You can be a girl, and a spy, and happen to fancy someone?

Women never get to have it both ways. We can’t be the sensitive and the strong. Men get to shoot up a pile of bad guys, cry to the woman they love after getting up for a midnight glass of whiskey, then go out and save the day. Whenever a woman lets the mask slip they’re done for as the film’s hero. But Feig and McCarthy make sure that while Cooper may need help, she doesn’t need to rely on someone to save her. She is as close to a real woman and a real spy as you can get, and that will make Spy stand out in my mind long after I’ve forgotten the jokes.

Conclusion

Spy is a great film, with lots of fine performances and some excellent laughs. It’s solidly entertaining and has everything you could possibly want in a comedy of this type. But while it has everything, and will keep you laughing for its duration, it doesn’t leave much of an impression. It’s not, in anyway, bad. It just doesn’t leave you with anything. Which is a great shame, but that’s the way it is.

Maybe it’s because we know what to expect of Feig and McCarthy, maybe it’s because it plays around with stereotypes we are already familiar with. Or maybe it’s because its story arc is hugely predictable, even with a character as different as Cooper. Whatever the case I still do recommend you watch Spy because, even if you don’t remember the ride, you’ll have fun while you’re on it.

Have you seen Spy? What did you think of it?

(top image source: 20th Century Fox)