Tuesday, June 28, 2016

3 Short Paragraphs: Spy

2015, Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) -- Netflix

Full disclosure. As a rule, I don't like Melissa McCarthy movies. I don't dislike her, but her movie roles have not been to my comedic liking. Bridesmaids, Tammy, The Heat, Identity Thief -- ick; just not my thing. But Marmy heard this was a movie not as marketed; that it had a bit more of a brain behind it. OK, so I grabbed some sofa and gave it a chance. And I was pleasantly surprised; not entirely so, but enough to give it a slight nod.

Susan Cooper is the CIA analyst assigned as support to super spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law). She's quite in love with him. He doesn't get it. She's really bright, he's the expected dick, and then he dies at the hand of the villain played by Rose Byrne. The villain knows about all the other super spies so Susan is sent to foil her plan. You see, Susan is very capable but lacking confidence and doesn't fit the stereotype for your usual super spy. But once in the field, she impresses, as one would expect from such a movie. Or not, as Graig said, most of these movies would just have her bumble through. She might be suffering from fish out of water, but she is no dummy. When she succeeds, its not by accident.

I kept flipping between being charmed by the movie and rolling my eyes at the expected vulgarities coming out of her mouth. I get it; disarming little woman has big, angry, nasty mouth = funny; it just isn't my thing. But disarming, funny woman who is very very smart and makes use of her other smart, smart friends is immediately appealing to me. I just wish there had been more of that and less of the stupid. And more of the under budgeted intelligence agency, with weird one-liners, that could send its agents on luxury trips to Europe but not clean up a bad rodent infestation. And yet, it doesn't keep the support staff from doing their job very well. "The rats can fly!" screams some random background character, making me break into guffaws. Weird little exuberant & ridiculous lines always make me laugh.

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