Movie Review: Spy (2015)

A review of the 2015 comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Statham.

Synopsis: Agent Susan Cooper was one of the top students in her CIA training but, instead of becoming a field agent, has settled for a job behind the scenes providing support for her partner, Agent Bradley Fine. However, when Fine is presumably killed while tracking down a stolen nuclear weapon and the CIA learns its field agents have been compromised, Susan volunteers for field duty and is sent to Europe. Her mission is just to observe and report. However, things quickly escalate and she must rely on her quick wit to keep her mission a secret.

Who's In It?

The movie stars Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale.

Review

My wife and I both have been Melissa McCarthy fans since first seeing her in the movie "Bridesmaids." So, when I saw this movie was available on DVD, I decided to get a copy of it from Netflix. We finally had a chance to watch it last night and the film was definitely entertaining.

One of my biggest concerns about this movie was the description made it sound a bit predictable. However, that wasn't the case. There were some twists, including the one involving her supposedly deceased partner, Fine (Law), that weren't much of a surprise. But, a good chunk of the things that happened in this movie were actually unexpected. Not to mention, with a wide variety of agents and double agents, it was difficult to tell who she could trust and who was actually a bad guy. This did keep things interesting.

While McCarthy does an excellent job in this film, the actor who steals the show is Statham. His rival spy character, Rick Ford, was entertaining to watch, both because he was overzealous and because you never knew if he was going to come into a room guns blazing or stumbling over his own feet. The fact Susan (McCarthy) constantly had to find ways to prevent him from blowing her cover definitely added something to this movie.

Mostly because I've seen McCarthy in other movies, I figured the film would have a large amount of crude language and jokes. That did prove to be the case and, while it isn't something I normally look for in movies, it worked out really well when it came to this particular film. One thing I wasn't expecting, however, was some of the more gory moments, which included someone's throat "melting." I, personally, enjoyed it. However, if you're sensitive to things like that, it's probably not a movie you should watch.

Spy (Unrated)

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Final Opinion

I did, admittedly, have a few doubts about this movie, as is usually the case when it comes to comedies (even if they star an actor/actress I like). However, the movie was definitely worth taking the time to watch and we enjoyed every minute of it.

My Grade: A

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Updated: 11/25/2015, StevenHelmer

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