I just finished watching this and although I thought it was marginally funny at the start, by the end I was laughing hysterically. Melissa McCarthy is hilarous and spot on. Everyone else around her was great support. Jason Statham was also hysterical. Loved it. And the Italian was funny as well. Plus the beautiful cities made it interesting to watch.
6
How come no one has mentioned the likeness to the Get Smart movie? Exact same set-up!
Super fun movie! I couldn't stop laughing during the scene when Aldo picks her up at the airport in a tiny red car and they barrel through Budapest. Slap-stick, gross-out, unexpected humor at its best! I really don't care about any barrier-breaking or meta-analysis of comedic gender - this movie was simply pure fun. And isn't that what it's all about?
6
Saw it today and loved it! Laughed and laughed. The script is tight, everything (within the movie's comedic logic) adds up, and the cast is fantastic. Blows the flabby, over-produced and ill-conceived Kingsman right out of the water. You go, Melissa McCarthy!
8
I find it regrettable, too, that female comedians have to use vulgar language non-stop and bodily function jokes to join the ‘fraternity’ of the funny. That said, it is kind of cool that Irish and English girls, when they get off the plantation, when they’re not locked up, sent to a convent (no disrespect intended), or a laundry, can be awesome. The movie was a wonderful send-up of the Bond Franchise and McCarthy and Byrne were great bickering foils. The best people are truly mad!
1
I don't normally go to movies like this one. I loved Imitation Game, stuff like that more serious.
Lately things have been stressful. Wanted an escape movie.
Saw this yesterday and laughed.... and laughed and laughed again.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing much to my surprise.
Kudos to Ms. McCarthy and everyone involved.
Left that theater feeling unstressed.
Left Imitation Game in tears.
hmmmmm.
Lately things have been stressful. Wanted an escape movie.
Saw this yesterday and laughed.... and laughed and laughed again.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing much to my surprise.
Kudos to Ms. McCarthy and everyone involved.
Left that theater feeling unstressed.
Left Imitation Game in tears.
hmmmmm.
10
I could watch Bobby Cannavale onscreen for 12 straight hours!
Saw this with high anticipation, felt disappointed. Ms. McCarthy. one in a million, was allowed to shine fully in The Heat, also directed by Paul Feig as was Spy.....but what an astonishing disparity re why the former was non stop hilarity defining and Spy was so pedestrian..... for me, even boring: the writing.
Katie Dippold---for me, a singular genius re writing comedy---wrote The Heat; Mr. Feig wrote Spy. Spy was formulaic, derivative and without a single, original nuance. Numbing and painful to have to be party to the ongoing bigotry against the fat girl with the uber spy chops, forget her underlying self abrogation for the duration of a movie.
NOT FUN.
Katie Dippold---for me, a singular genius re writing comedy---wrote The Heat; Mr. Feig wrote Spy. Spy was formulaic, derivative and without a single, original nuance. Numbing and painful to have to be party to the ongoing bigotry against the fat girl with the uber spy chops, forget her underlying self abrogation for the duration of a movie.
NOT FUN.
3
Great fun!
3
I just saw the movie and laughed out loud at many of the funny lines. Some of the lines, delivered by Ms. McCathy or Mr. Statham, may have to be appreciated when I see it again - eventually - on a tv screen as they pass by very quickly.
Two comments: If you're not familiar with James Bond movies, you may not find this funny as it really helps to know the oriignal bits and plots that SPY is spoofing. Mr. Stefanowicz as Aldo steals the movie: his acting and lines as the stereotypical over-sexed Italian are wonderful.
One more comment: It should have ended with the scene on the lawn, not the one inside. That was gratuitous, unbelievable and silly. (I'm trying not to be a spoiler here.)
Two comments: If you're not familiar with James Bond movies, you may not find this funny as it really helps to know the oriignal bits and plots that SPY is spoofing. Mr. Stefanowicz as Aldo steals the movie: his acting and lines as the stereotypical over-sexed Italian are wonderful.
One more comment: It should have ended with the scene on the lawn, not the one inside. That was gratuitous, unbelievable and silly. (I'm trying not to be a spoiler here.)
2
Saw the film yesterday and thought it was great. Good action scenes and great acting prowess. And not too many fat jokes. Everyone here will love it.
4
Mr. Scott got it right: Ms McCarthy is irresistible. A genuine, gigantic - no pun intended! - comedic talent, she not only carries any movie she is in, she thrusts it into the stratosphere. Love her.
4
This movie was horrible. I never thought the times would fold under the pressure of political correctness. I'm sorry New York Times it was fun while it lasted.
Comics are usually given scripts that are "light fluff" in order to show off their skills. The plots are generic and the one dimensional characters are designed to set up the comedian's jokes. Bill Murray, John Candy did very well with this formula. Melissa McCarthy doesn't. The jokes are gross and recycled. A fat woman on a small scooter can only elicit so many laughs. I didn't hear too many people laughing out loud in the theatre. She wasn't tearing the house down.
I have to ask the question, "If John Candy or Chris Farley starred in this movie would they have received a favorable review?"
A.O. Scott is pandering to women and this once proud newspaper lets him.
The commenters on this board are a bunch of hypocrites and phonies trying to defend a bad movie because it has a female lead.
Comics are usually given scripts that are "light fluff" in order to show off their skills. The plots are generic and the one dimensional characters are designed to set up the comedian's jokes. Bill Murray, John Candy did very well with this formula. Melissa McCarthy doesn't. The jokes are gross and recycled. A fat woman on a small scooter can only elicit so many laughs. I didn't hear too many people laughing out loud in the theatre. She wasn't tearing the house down.
I have to ask the question, "If John Candy or Chris Farley starred in this movie would they have received a favorable review?"
A.O. Scott is pandering to women and this once proud newspaper lets him.
The commenters on this board are a bunch of hypocrites and phonies trying to defend a bad movie because it has a female lead.
2
Agree. I guess AO Scott has to see so many bad movies that this is good in comparison?
So much exposition explaining who the characters were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. Depressingly unfunny. Melissa McCarthy is inherently funny and this script and movie did everything possible to drown out the joy.
So much exposition explaining who the characters were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. Depressingly unfunny. Melissa McCarthy is inherently funny and this script and movie did everything possible to drown out the joy.
1
I thought I was the only person critical of this movie amidst the overwhelming positive reviews by NYT and other outlets. I kept hearing how "smart" or "inventive" or "revolutionary" it was. Huh?
I regretted seeing McCarthy's film Tammy and I regretted this one. Too much of the humor hinges on her extreme obesity. It's just not funny to me, and it certainly isnt "smart." I can't help but think that reviewers like this one favor her work because she is so likable on and off screen. Yes, she is crazy funny, but she is funny enough to hold her own in a comedy that doesn't over-focus on her size.
I regretted seeing McCarthy's film Tammy and I regretted this one. Too much of the humor hinges on her extreme obesity. It's just not funny to me, and it certainly isnt "smart." I can't help but think that reviewers like this one favor her work because she is so likable on and off screen. Yes, she is crazy funny, but she is funny enough to hold her own in a comedy that doesn't over-focus on her size.
2
Glad I was in a movie theater where practically everyone laughed out loud throughout most of the movie - me included. Highbrow? Probably not. Funny? Yes, in my book.
"Designed to set up the comedian's jokes" - and boy, did she get a couple of good ones.
To each their own, I guess. But why on earth the review is supposedly politically correct rather than someone having a different opinion (shared by many, as it seems) is a bit beyond me.
"Designed to set up the comedian's jokes" - and boy, did she get a couple of good ones.
To each their own, I guess. But why on earth the review is supposedly politically correct rather than someone having a different opinion (shared by many, as it seems) is a bit beyond me.
9
Let's start with the name: "Spy". Brilliant! Original! How did they possibly come up with it? Moreover, it's indicative of the kind of effort that was put into the movie itself.
4
I hope AO Scott realizes the Bechdel test means nothing to the quality of a film.
2
I need something to cleanse my synapses of that smarmy deceptive "Tomorrowland" after reading in the NYT about how Disney really treats the tech "dreamers" their movie purports to inspire. Maybe a strong dose of "Entourage," followed by this. Desperate times, desperate measures.
11
I guess this is a step in the direction of equality: now women can also make ugly, vulgar, trivial comedies that rely on bodily function jokes and "shocking" language. Real equality would be a comedy like "Dr. Strangelove", "The Graduate", "Duck Soup", "City Lights", "The Apartment", "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", "Annie Hall", "Election", "Manhattan".... Is there a single female-driven film out there that even approaches the satirical edge of those films? (I do give a nod to "In a World", which, while not in the class of the above, was pretty good.)
18
Well, one might say Election, for starters (from your own list).
4
Just off the top of my head, how about "Private Benjamin," and "The First Wives Club," which might not stand up against "Duck Soup" (what can) but which I would put side by side with any of the others on your list.
4
I totally agree that this movie might have been more effective if about 3/4 of the crude language and bodily function jokes had been edited out. Melissa McCarthy has a comedic ability and the story like was OK, but i wanted to hear some normal conversational language when I left the theater. I was surprised that more critics might speak to that aspect of the film.
2
Of course, my husband has learned not to fight too hard when it comes to going against something I want. He wanted to see Entourage. Don't get me wrong, I will see that but when I had to call 3 babysitters, I was not wasting it on Entourage. What's not to be excited about this movie? Melissa McCarthy is so talented, Rose Byrne is also a huge talent and Allison Janney, the best!
Throw in the gorgeous Jude Law and the equally gorgeous and tough Jason Straham ( yes, shallow but guys get a steady stream of gorgeous ladies so we can drool too).
I can't wait and I wish her all the best. As far as weight, I loved Chris Farley but a lot of his movies did boil down to weight. I see Ms. McCarty as much more a John Candy. The weight is obvious but the talent and the genuine performances made you forget all about it. Planes, Trains and Automoblies and Uncle Buck, in my opinion, had nothing to do with weight. Just great performances. Same with Bridesmaids. She was just plain funny.
Throw in the gorgeous Jude Law and the equally gorgeous and tough Jason Straham ( yes, shallow but guys get a steady stream of gorgeous ladies so we can drool too).
I can't wait and I wish her all the best. As far as weight, I loved Chris Farley but a lot of his movies did boil down to weight. I see Ms. McCarty as much more a John Candy. The weight is obvious but the talent and the genuine performances made you forget all about it. Planes, Trains and Automoblies and Uncle Buck, in my opinion, had nothing to do with weight. Just great performances. Same with Bridesmaids. She was just plain funny.
18
The woman is funny. Almost everything she does and says. "Who puts a roof on a scooter? What, you think you're the Pope?" hahahahahahahaha...seriously. She's the biggest talent in on-screen comedy right now.
13
It truly boggles my mind how low the bar is now for so called comedies' and movies in general. Dweb's comment down below really articulates it. The mainstream garbage in every genre touted as art. Lord Help Me .......
22
Oh, you poor, poor thing. It must be so hard to get through the day as the clearly superior being that you are. My condolences.
15
Yes, this was disappointing, lowbrow fare.
7
We love Melissa McCarthy and still watch "The Heat" every time it's shown on HBO. Can't wait to see this one!
4
What a wonderful review! A.O. Scott is the best in the business, in no small part because he excels at conveying the fun he has watching movies that aren't, well, serious or "important." I will definitely have to see this one
9
What an excellent description:"...Mr. Statham’s character, an arrogant peacock who brags about exploits that sound like outtakes from Jason Statham movies." Ah, the turn of a phrase.
15
I ADORE this woman. When that critic, whose name I cant remember, trounced on her about her weight and barely acknowledged her as an actress I and many went ballistic. I feel a veeeeery slow tilt in the sexism game in Hollywood and Melissa is one of the main reasons. Course if she makes 3 bombs in a row its back to 110 lb stick figures but she is a break of fresh air for god's sake. Shes different, shes fun and we all need that in life now cause its so damned hard. How can you not like anyone doing it THEIR way. Way to go Missy. xo
21
Some day this brilliant actress will get the dramatic/comic/tragic role she is capable of - not just the funny fat girl parts. She steals every scene she is in, in every movie I've ever seen her in: Bridesmaids, The Heat, Identity Thief, St. Vincent. She never condescends to her material. The material shouldn't condescend to her.
24
Hardy was fat, and you already said she was vulgar once, to say it twice is, well, rather vulgar, really.
6
Yes indeed. She should lose weight, practice walking with books on her head, put her pinky up when she drinks tea and act like a goddam lady. Now THAT is comedy.
6
If the film is as entertaining as this review, I'll probably be seeing it twice, at full price. Even in a bad film, she's pretty darn good.
6
That's it. I'm watching. I could use a good laugh.
4
I love fat comedians. Reminds me of myself and how it's ok to be fat and funny. Just like the Mall Cop movie.
2
Ridiculous and heroic, needy and scarey, clueless and clever all at once.
Sounds like a movie for schizophrenics.
Sounds like a movie for schizophrenics.
3
I will definitely see it. I have never seen a Melissa McCarthy movie that I did not like.
19
I see a lot of stuff called comedy and I hardly crack a smile or maybe a heh, heh, heh or two. My idea of fumy is Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers.
"Spy" is a comedy and the only thing required of a comedy is that it is funny and Melissa McCarthy is funny funny funny. If you laugh a lot the price of admission is worth it and it is one my list to see. Surround her with a talented cast all the better.
"Spy" is a comedy and the only thing required of a comedy is that it is funny and Melissa McCarthy is funny funny funny. If you laugh a lot the price of admission is worth it and it is one my list to see. Surround her with a talented cast all the better.
26
Melissa McCarthy ROCKS !
32
I've never liked Gilmore Girls, and hated the Bridesmaid film, the film where Melissa McCarthy steals identities, the cop movie,etc. She is usually too loud, the fat jokes are not funny, etc. If she does make a movie that isn't cringe-inducing I may spend the $$ to see it.
18
Amazing how Hollywood has perfected a whole new genre, led by the Adam Sandler/Will Farrell/Seth Rogan school: Comedies that elicit nary a smile, let alone a laugh. Comedy based on bodily functions, based on characters with which you can develop no empathy....and worst of all comedies made by comedians who believe that because the plots make them laugh, we will too.
I went to see the Interview with Rogan and emerged prepared to issue a personal apology to Kim Jung Il....it was that bad. Perhaps I am from the wrong generation, but none of these things involves any humor.
I went to see the Interview with Rogan and emerged prepared to issue a personal apology to Kim Jung Il....it was that bad. Perhaps I am from the wrong generation, but none of these things involves any humor.
48
So, how did you like the movie? The one reviewed here… which you've presumably seen in a preview somewhere?
11
hmmmm, sounds more like a Get Off My Lawn rant. So, the big grossing comedies of, say, the 60's, the beach Blanket American International films (1963 to 1968) with Frankie and Annette were sophisticated? A brief plot synopsis of one of the more popular: " In the fourth of the highly successful Frankie and Annette beach party movies, a motorcycle gang led by Eric Von Zipper kidnaps singing star Sugar Kane,,,," Dumb comedies aren't anything new under the sun, nor do they represent the decline of civilization, they are simply themselves, dumb comedies....get over it and go for a walk, to quote the Talking Heads, "same as it ever was" Anyway, I knew a dude named Art once, and he said taste is all in your mouth. A cheap dump, juvenile laugh in an air conditioned Cineplex ain't the worst thing in the world, by far.
3
We got to see this at SIFF. I've never seen a Melissa McCarthy movie, and I'm not really a chick flick person. It was far better than we had expected and goes on my list of favorite comedies ever.
After seeing this movie, I realized in retrospect that all my adventure fantasies were deeply inadequate. I also realized that what was missing from all those Bond films, with their unrealistic fight scenes, was my being able to imagine myself in them.
What I enjoyed most was watching the desk job get to drive the fancy car... and motorcycle... and airplane... and get the bad guys (gals) for once.
After seeing this movie, I realized in retrospect that all my adventure fantasies were deeply inadequate. I also realized that what was missing from all those Bond films, with their unrealistic fight scenes, was my being able to imagine myself in them.
What I enjoyed most was watching the desk job get to drive the fancy car... and motorcycle... and airplane... and get the bad guys (gals) for once.
58
From the clips I've seen (sans profanity), it looks like a good show! A spy movie with laughs (not a send-up of spy movies).
Would any one of us love to "go rogue" with neat-o gadgets like Susan Cooper!
Would any one of us love to "go rogue" with neat-o gadgets like Susan Cooper!
7
I can't wait to see it. I just can't stop laughing at her humor, and I love action films with female leads that are not your typical typecast.
Go Feminist Pokemon Go
Go Feminist Pokemon Go
19
With regard to "Heat" I have to admit that I wasn't able to get past my amazement that Ms. McCarthy made absolutely no attempt at adopting the "southie" Boston accent that would have added color to her purple dialogue. The actors playing her brothers and their girlfriends did it, and the contrast was inconsistent and jarring. Were vocal coaches not available?
14
Too bad her accent bothered you....but in our fluid world where kids leave home and move to other places, accents don't stick the way they used to when you went to work in the local factory. I was a true Southerner who went to school in the deep South. Then moved to DC where people were from all over. Y'all just kinds of slipped away. After a year in the Bahamas with Brits for neighbors, I not only had an impeccable English accent, I found it hard to say a sentence without a pun included. You must have misplaced your funnybone if what you took away from the movie was the jarring lack of a Southie accent!
By the way, Matt Damon is from South Boston, and when he is there, it slips back in....but most of the time he is just good old American!
By the way, Matt Damon is from South Boston, and when he is there, it slips back in....but most of the time he is just good old American!
11
Nope, nope, nope. Matt Damon was born in Cambridge, then grew up in Newton. That's about as far away from South Boston, physically and essentially, as you can get in Boston.
4
I have a friend from North Carolina who's been in New Hampshire for over a decade - when she visits home her family tells her she sounds like a Yankee, but believe me, when she chats with us up here in the north we hear the grits 'n gravy loud and clear! My point is that Ms. McCarthy is a professional actress, and since many of her British counterparts are able to learn our regional accents, one would expect a native to take the trouble to do so as well.
By the way, my funnybone is not so dislocated as to prevent a chuckle at "without a pun included!"
By the way, my funnybone is not so dislocated as to prevent a chuckle at "without a pun included!"
This movies (kind of "buoyant") is the perfect vehicle for a nice family day at the movies. Also, it is a validation for so many ignored overweight mid-western ladies. Ms McCarthy knows how to laugh at herself and deliver the good lines.
22
I love Melissa McCarthy, fat and all. She defies typecasting.
33
I love the idea of "invisible women" being excellent spies. Just the other day, I (52) said to my husband (56) that no one looks at me anymore. No leering glances. No cat calls....and I LOVE IT! My mother, God rest her soul, used to say that the CIA should hire a bunch of middle-aged overweight women because no one would give them a second thought.
And here you have it. (Except the middle-aged part for Ms. McCarthy.) Love the concept; hope the film fulfills.
And here you have it. (Except the middle-aged part for Ms. McCarthy.) Love the concept; hope the film fulfills.
144
I recall seeing something on PBS or somewhere a few years ago about how real spies are trained. I was surprised, although I don't know why, to learn that many real spies are actually middle-aged overweight women (and men). I mean, of course they are. Who better to blend into the background and not attract notice? The spy in the room isn't 007; he's that schlub reading the newspaper over in that chair in the corner.
38
John Le Carre novels made this point quite often. Smiley appeared to be a nondescript bureaucrat to all outwards appearances.
32
In rl, Special Forces guys are surprisingly average and low-key-looking.
2
Enjoy seeing the Bechdel test getting some wider play. Thank you, Mr. Scott.
47
I love her, and will definitely be seeing this.
27
Is it possible to write movie reviews anymore without scoring them for feminist Pokemon points?
16
Aww, poor baby. Movies should only be for and about real he-men, right?
69
Not yet, Steve. but, given the success I expect this movie will be - it should be soon!
4
You're right, we need more movies about women victimized by men....preferably white men.
23