Film School: Spy

The stigma around Melissa McCarthy for people who have only seen Bridesmaids and are maybe slightly aware of Mike & Molly seems to be that she only plays women versions of Paul Blart. That she knows she's big and sort of plays dumb and is only capable of being funny physically. It's amazing how unfair that is. McCarthy is so funny and such a gifted actress. Emotions, facial expressions, sarcasm, physical movements, comedy, drama, she's really good at all of it. Even that last sentence is patronizing. When people were excited at the possibility of women-driven comedies after the success of Bridesmaids and nothing like that really happened, McCarthy happened. This is her second big comedy in two years, and while she's joined by some big names, Spy is essentially her movie. That's the star she has become.

I'll be honest, when I saw the trailer for this movie, with all the big names in it — Jude Law, Statham, Rose Byrne and even McCarthy — and with it being a secret agent parody, I thought it was a kids movie. I had no idea until literally the other day that it was an R-rated comedy. I don't know if that says more about me or how they marketed the movie.

It almost doesn't seem like an R-rated movie. Statham is the only one that uses any bad language and with the exception of a great dick pic joke, it's not until the second half of the movie that the jokes pick up their raunch factor. They clearly spent money on this movie. They film literally all over Europe. I love that a movie that isn't a Fast and Furious sequel or comic book movie got a huge budget like this. I like that an R-rated comedy that doesn't have Rogen or Apatow's name on it received such a push. And this isn't a lead up to some qualifying statement. This is a great movie that's very funny. I enjoyed it very much.

The cast meshes together very well. McCarthy and Miranda Hart, who plays her sidekick and fellow fish out of water, are especially great. The spy parody is almost a genre of its own at this point, but Spy establishes its tone uniquely. It successfully mixes a goofiness with comedy today's need for quick, savvy Veep-style insults. And that we owe to director Paul Fieg. I've enjoyed Feig's past work, but now I'm fully on the bandwagon. He brings the best out of his actors and lets all sorts of minor characters get in on the fun.

By the way, 50 Cent is in this movie. If you've listened to any interview he's done in the last two years, he has mentioned it. He literally only has a two minute concert cameo in which he doesn't even perform a real song. Well, it might have been off Animal Ambition, but those are the same thing to me.