Susan works as a dispatcher for the CIA agent Bradley, giving him info through his ear piece. When he gets assassinated by the mysterious arms dealer Rayna, the CIA takes a daring step of giving Susan the job of a spy to discover more info about a missing nuclear bomb. CIA spy Ford objects, and secretly follows her. Susan manages to gain Rayna's trust in Rome, presenting herself as Rayna's father's bodyguard. In Budapest, Susan is uncovered by Rayna's men, and she finds out Bradley only feigned his death to pretend he teamed up with Rayna. Together with the clumsy Italian agent Aido and friend Nancy, Susan is able to stop Rayne from selling the nuclear bomb to criminal De Luca.
"Spy" is a moderately funny spoof on various spy and secret agent movies, incorporating just enough jokes to carry the film. The director Paul Feig has only a half-successful sense for comic timing: in his better moments, he can conjure up a few funny gags; conversely, during his weaker moments, he relies too much on empty, overlong babbling or just plain lazy zany scenes to cover up a lack of true comic inspiration. Melissa McCarthy is fun as the CIA dispatcher Susan who is sent on a mission as a spy, while Jason Statham is a real surprise as the clumsy CIA agent Ford, cast against type in a rare comic role. Some of the best moments arrive as spoofs of various action cliches: for instance, just as Susan is in danger of being shot, Ford suddenly enters the room triumphantly, seemingly as one of those "saved-in-the-nick-of-time" moments, only for his trench coat to get stuck on the door knob, him dropping the gun, slipping, and then falling clumsily on the floor, knocking himself unconscious. As Ford is later seen boarding a motorboat, claiming he will go for an Italian vacation to relax, starting it and shouting "Arrivederci!", Nancy and Susan look at him and have this exchange: "Do you think he knows that's a lake?" - "No". The Italian secret agent Aido also has a good humorous moment when, after acting horny and with a bad accent all the time, he suddenly appears in a fancy suit and andresses Susan in a perfectly gentleman manner and impeccable British accent, claiming to be an MI6 agent who was "just carried away with playing a lustful Italian". Several jokes fail to ignite or have a punchline. The movie could have been cut by at least half an hour by simply removing said lackluster attempts at humor, but even as it is, it is efficient and has enough fun.
Grade:++
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