Review: Spy

Melissa McCarthy is not Julia Roberts. Yet here she is in Spy, having her Pretty Woman moment at the practically geriatric age of 45.

McCarthy has been in the business for the past two decades, first gaining notice as Sookie St. James in the beloved Gilmore Girls. She knocked about in television and film, logging in supporting turns, mostly as the leading lady's funny sidekick. She seemed destined to always be Ethel, never Lucy. Then came Mike and Molly but, more importantly, there was Paul Feig's Bridesmaids. McCarthy was Megan, and her big, brash, and bold turn was like a wrecking ball to your funny bone. Comic performances don't get much respect at the Academy Awards, but her tour-de-force earned a well-deserved Supporting Actress nomination. She has since racked up a string of hits - Identity Thief, The Heat, Tammy - but Spy is something more than another success to add to the roster. Like Roberts in Pretty Woman, McCarthy's role (or roles) in Spy marks her coronation as a full-fledged star.

McCarthy's Susan Cooper seems an unlikely candidate for crowning - fortysomething, single - but she is the personification of the saying, "Behind every good man, there's a good woman." She may be a mere CIA analyst stuck behind a desk in a basement that serves as a hotel of sorts to bats and vermin and who knows what else, but secret agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) would be nothing without her. Of course, Susan would probably be more than his glorified Moneypenny if she didn't have an unrequited crush on him. The opening sequence in which she maneuvers Fine past a series of obstacles and armed assailants demonstrates her skills, intelligence, and ability to remain cool under pressure. Then the blithely grateful Fine offhandedly remarks, "I could kiss you," and she dissolves into girlish glee. "I would accept that with an open mouth."

When Fine is killed during a mission gone awry, Susan convinces Deputy Director Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) to let her enter the field to track down Fine's murderer: haughty Bulgarian arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne). Boorish agent Richard Ford (Jason Statham) can't believe Crocker would send in an unqualified desk drone to do his job, but Crocker has no choice. Rayna claims to know the identities of all active agents, so Susan is the CIA's only hope. Besides, Susan did ace her field training test back when she first started working at the CIA, and she is technically an agent. Armed with a series of embarrassing cover identities (a divorced housewife with 10 cats) and high-tech gizmos (laxatives to counteract poison), Susan is ordered to simply track and report Rayna's movements. Of course, Susan does more than ordered, pursuing Rayna across the globe whilst trying to deal with various foreign baddies, Ford's constant interference, and the amorous advances of Italian agent Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz).

Every single component in Spy is so perfectly aligned. The action sequences - especially a wonderfully choreographed kitchen fight between McCarthy and Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri that is punctuated with well-dropped comic beats - are dynamic. The script is almost too good - there are so many hilarious moments and one-liners that half of them are drowned out by laughter. The actors are top-notch. Law, Serafinowicz, and the towering Miranda Hart (as McCarthy's best buddy) excel whilst Bobby Cannavale is gloriously sleazy as arms dealer Sergio De Luca.

Special praise is reserved for Byrne and Statham. The Aussie actress, who also appeared in Bridesmaids, has proven time and time again what a brilliant comedic actress she is. Rayna Boyanov might be her best turn to date. Encased in an array of animal prints, teetering on high heels, and balancing a coiffure that could double as a landing pad, Byrne is sensational. Her every pore drips with imperious disdain. Her exchanges with McCarthy, in which they try to top each other's putdowns, are absolute highlights. Statham hasn't flexed his comic muscles since his Guy Ritchie days, and what an utter delight he is. His ongoing litany of all the things he's gone through in the line of duty - setting himself on fire, putting shards in his eye, sewing one arm back on, being immune to 179 different kinds of poison - is just plain hysterical.

Spy, however, is McCarthy's film all the way. Not only is it a supreme showcase for her verbal and physical strengths as a performer, it also provides her with an opportunity to expand her range. It is a complex portrayal - note the deftness and balance with which she switches, merges, and builds upon identities whilst still retaining the character's core qualities of goodheartedness and loyalty. She runs the gamut from timid girl Friday to take-no-prisoners badass, but her Susan Cooper is also a fully realised, multi-layered portrait of a woman who has finally come to see her own worth.

Spy

Directed by: Paul Feig

Written by: Paul Feig

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Jason Statham, Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Nargis Fakhri, Morena Baccarin