I’m writing this on Monday, January 4, and quite relieved that the holidays are over. I’m not such a grumpy old man that I’ll claim I didn’t enjoy the holidays. I had fun times with family and friends. I was able to give gifts that delighted those I love and received gifts that delighted me. It was the holly jolliest of times, but I needed to get back to work.
Spy is the only movie I’ve watched since my last movie review. I got it from the library and I couldn’t tell you why I requested it. I’ve never been a fan of Melissa McCarthy, but maybe some preview stuck in my head and whispered “this might be fun” as I was putting in my various library requests.
Here’s the fast summary of the film from the ever-wondrous Internet Movie Database:
A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.
The movie was written and directed by Paul Feig, which may be why I requested the movie. I’ve seen Feig on several talk shows and he seems like a funny and pleasant guy. In any case, here’s where we activate the usual cautionary note...
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
CIA agent Susan Cooper (McCarthy) watches agent Bradley Fine’s back remotely. The Bond-like agent is played by Jude Law. There are all sorts of nods to the Bond films and they were all amusing. There’s lots of good people in the cast: Miranda Hart as Susan’s friend and co-worker Nancy, Rose Byrne as bad girl Rayna Boyanov, Allison Janney as Susan’s boss, Morena Baccarin as a gorgeous CIA agent, Jason Statham as rogue agent Rick Ford, Peter Serafinowicz as CIA agent Aldo, 50 Cent as 50 Cent and Bobby Cannavale as a really bad guy. It’s especially fun to see Statham as comedy relief, but it’s McCarthy and Byrne who command the movie.
Susan’s in love with Fine, who isn’t near clever enough to figure that out. When Fine is killed by Rayna, who inherited a suitcase nuke from her late father, the Agency learns their top agents have been compromised. Susan volunteers to go undercover to locate and track the bomb. It turns out Cooper was top of her class, but has been relegated to “the basement” by the men who used to run things at the CIA. Susan’s boss has concerns, but still gives Cooper the mission. Agent Ford quits in protest.
After that, things quickly spiral out of control. Yet Cooper keeps her eyes on the prize and does pretty well. She gets a little help along the way, but, really, it’s the women who keep the plot moving and who achieve the greatest success. With lots of not-very-subtle digs at the male of the species. Annoying as that could get once in a while, it was worth to see the blossoming Susan kick ass and take names. McCarthy was a joy to watch in this role.
Byrne rocks as the bad girl. She’s petty and murderous. She looks like something out of a 1960s mod fashion catalog. It was hard for me to boo this particular villain because her back-and-forth with McCarthy was comedy gold. In fact, and Sainted Wife Barb does not disagree with this, if there was any sexual tension between any of the characters, it was between Susan and Rayna.
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
Maybe it was the spirit of the holidays, but I enjoyed this movie. I’m still not a Melissa McCarthy fan, but she was terrific in this movie. She’s no longer an automatic deal-breaker for me.
My recommendation...watch this movie with someone you love and who doesn’t mind you predicting plot twists. It’s the curse of being or being married to a writer.
******************************
While taking breaks for parties and the work I managed to do during the past week, I did watch a few TV shows. My son Eddie and I saw the TV’s Funniest Animated Stars special, which was heavily slanted towards Fox shows. We also watched a “Bar Rescue: Back to the Bar” special, but that show is wearing a little thin with me. More than ever, it feels completely staged. I caught up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Criminal Minds and Elementary. I watched multiple episodes of CSI Cyber, Limitless and Scorpion, but I’m not quite current on those last three.
My TV pick of the week was Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons. “The Girl Code” did a top-notch job of tying the “A” plot and the “B” plot together. Marge posts a photo that gets Homer fired. Homer goes back to work at the only job he ever loved: the dishwasher in a Greek diner. Lisa comes up with an app that would prevent people from posting stuff unwisely by showing them the future consequences of their posting. It’s the best Simpsons of the season.
That’s all for the moment, my friends, but I’ll be back soon with lots more stuff.
© 2016 Tony Isabella
Spy is the only movie I’ve watched since my last movie review. I got it from the library and I couldn’t tell you why I requested it. I’ve never been a fan of Melissa McCarthy, but maybe some preview stuck in my head and whispered “this might be fun” as I was putting in my various library requests.
Here’s the fast summary of the film from the ever-wondrous Internet Movie Database:
A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.
The movie was written and directed by Paul Feig, which may be why I requested the movie. I’ve seen Feig on several talk shows and he seems like a funny and pleasant guy. In any case, here’s where we activate the usual cautionary note...
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
CIA agent Susan Cooper (McCarthy) watches agent Bradley Fine’s back remotely. The Bond-like agent is played by Jude Law. There are all sorts of nods to the Bond films and they were all amusing. There’s lots of good people in the cast: Miranda Hart as Susan’s friend and co-worker Nancy, Rose Byrne as bad girl Rayna Boyanov, Allison Janney as Susan’s boss, Morena Baccarin as a gorgeous CIA agent, Jason Statham as rogue agent Rick Ford, Peter Serafinowicz as CIA agent Aldo, 50 Cent as 50 Cent and Bobby Cannavale as a really bad guy. It’s especially fun to see Statham as comedy relief, but it’s McCarthy and Byrne who command the movie.
Susan’s in love with Fine, who isn’t near clever enough to figure that out. When Fine is killed by Rayna, who inherited a suitcase nuke from her late father, the Agency learns their top agents have been compromised. Susan volunteers to go undercover to locate and track the bomb. It turns out Cooper was top of her class, but has been relegated to “the basement” by the men who used to run things at the CIA. Susan’s boss has concerns, but still gives Cooper the mission. Agent Ford quits in protest.
After that, things quickly spiral out of control. Yet Cooper keeps her eyes on the prize and does pretty well. She gets a little help along the way, but, really, it’s the women who keep the plot moving and who achieve the greatest success. With lots of not-very-subtle digs at the male of the species. Annoying as that could get once in a while, it was worth to see the blossoming Susan kick ass and take names. McCarthy was a joy to watch in this role.
Byrne rocks as the bad girl. She’s petty and murderous. She looks like something out of a 1960s mod fashion catalog. It was hard for me to boo this particular villain because her back-and-forth with McCarthy was comedy gold. In fact, and Sainted Wife Barb does not disagree with this, if there was any sexual tension between any of the characters, it was between Susan and Rayna.
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
Maybe it was the spirit of the holidays, but I enjoyed this movie. I’m still not a Melissa McCarthy fan, but she was terrific in this movie. She’s no longer an automatic deal-breaker for me.
My recommendation...watch this movie with someone you love and who doesn’t mind you predicting plot twists. It’s the curse of being or being married to a writer.
******************************
While taking breaks for parties and the work I managed to do during the past week, I did watch a few TV shows. My son Eddie and I saw the TV’s Funniest Animated Stars special, which was heavily slanted towards Fox shows. We also watched a “Bar Rescue: Back to the Bar” special, but that show is wearing a little thin with me. More than ever, it feels completely staged. I caught up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Criminal Minds and Elementary. I watched multiple episodes of CSI Cyber, Limitless and Scorpion, but I’m not quite current on those last three.
My TV pick of the week was Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons. “The Girl Code” did a top-notch job of tying the “A” plot and the “B” plot together. Marge posts a photo that gets Homer fired. Homer goes back to work at the only job he ever loved: the dishwasher in a Greek diner. Lisa comes up with an app that would prevent people from posting stuff unwisely by showing them the future consequences of their posting. It’s the best Simpsons of the season.
That’s all for the moment, my friends, but I’ll be back soon with lots more stuff.
© 2016 Tony Isabella
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