In case you were among the hordes of disappointed Melissa McCarthy fans let down by her less than stellar, easily forgettable TAMMY last year, I’ve got good news.
McCarthy’s bounced back BIG TIME!
In SPY she goes undercover as Susan Cooper, a desk bound CIA analyst turned secret agent.
It’s a howling spy caper/James Bond-like tribute, guaranteed to score big laughs with not only McCarthy followers but fans of the genre as well.
Not that there’s anything really new in the story’s deadly arms dealer and potential international catastrophe premise, it’s the way they pull it off in SPY that makes it really work.
A lot of credit here has to go to celebrated comedic director Paul Feig who created McCarthy’s past blockbusters BRIDESMAIDS and THE HEAT and who is currently shooting the much-anticipated remake of GHOSTBUSTERS.
Not only did the Feig-Meister direct this all-out action comedy, he wrote the screenplay.
On top of which he surrounded McCarthy with a solid supporting cast including scene stealing Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne and Curtis Jackson—a.k.a. 50 Cent.
Good to see the tiny (big) lady back in a no-holds barred physical comedy kicking ass and preventing global disaster.
To say that McCarthy pulls it off would be putting it mildly.
SPY opens in preview engagements tonight then everywhere Friday.
I’m awarding it a solid B+
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings at 6:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. on 98.1FM, KMBZ and anytime on Facebook.
It isn’t over til the fat lady sings
Didn’t do much for me, Jack…
But my daughter Savannah and I saw a mostly empty 5 pm show Thursday so there was virtually no audience laugh track to get us in the mood. My daughter gave it a 6 (that’s a D-)
I saw it today. It is funny like Jurgen says. The XD screen was stupidly loud at Cinemark.
Last time that blaring overkill happened to me at a Cinemark screening I went outside and requested for the sound to be ‘adjusted.’ Guess what IT WORKED!
As for “SPY”—it won the weekend with $30 million.