Melissa McCarthy spends most of Spy behind a desk, and the film is smarter for it. Paul Feig wrote and directed the 2015 spy comedy, which follows CIA analyst Susan Cooper as she trades her headset for a field assignment after a stolen portable nuclear device goes missing. The film runs 120 minutes and mixes action, comedy and crime.
Trailer, via 20th Century Studios.
Susan Cooper Leaves the Desk
Cooper begins as a remote handler for field agent Bradley Fine, played by Jude Law. When Fine dies on a mission — shot by arms dealer Rayna Boyanov, played by Rose Byrne — Cooper volunteers to track Rayna herself. Her boss, Elaine Crocker, agrees only with hesitation. Rick Ford, a veteran agent played by Jason Statham, objects to her inexperience and quits in protest.
A Rogue Agent and a Bomb in the Seine
Ford resurfaces in Paris anyway, insisting Cooper will fail. She spots a man swapping Ford’s backpack for one holding a bomb and warns him in time. He throws it into the Seine, interrupting a nearby Verka Serduchka concert. Cooper chases the man and kills him by accident in the fight that follows.
Rose Byrne Builds a Villain Worth Watching
Byrne’s Rayna is the film’s best invention. She shoots Fine in her own home, then invites Cooper into her inner circle after Cooper saves her from a spiked drink in a Rome casino. That reversal is the movie’s engine, and Byrne plays it cold.
She’s a risk they had to take.
Statham Turns Comic
Statham’s Ford is the surprise. He spends his scenes arguing with Cooper and predicting her failure, which is a joke the film lets run. Miranda Hart, as Cooper’s colleague Nancy, and Allison Janney, as Crocker, fill out a cast that includes Bobby Cannavale and Peter Serafinowicz.
A $235 Million Return
Spy premiered at South by Southwest on March 15, 2015, and opened in the United States on June 5, 2015, through 20th Century Fox. It grossed $235 million worldwide against a $65 million budget. It earned two Golden Globe nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress for McCarthy.
What Spy Gets Right
The film works because it never treats Cooper’s desk job as a punchline. Her competence is the setup, not the joke, and Feig’s script lets her be good at the work before she is good at the field. The Globe nominations were earned, particularly McCarthy’s.
The Score
Spy is a clean, confident comedy that knows exactly what it is doing. 7.5 of 10.
Key facts:
– Release: June 5, 2015 (US)
– Runtime: 120 minutes
– Budget: $65 million
– Worldwide gross: $235 million
– Metacritic: 75/100
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
