Film Review: Spy

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Spy. Rated MA15+ (strong violence, coarse language and brief nudity). 120 minutes. Written and Directed by Paul Feig.

Verdict: A star turn from Melissa McCarthy manages to maintain our interest.

With his smash-hit romp Bridesmaids (2011), Feig launched himself, and one of the film’s stars Melissa McCarthy, into the heights of the comedy stratosphere. Bridesmaids became one of the most talked-about films of the year, gleefully dividing audiences straight down the line between those who adored its ribald, no holds barred hilarity, and those who found it all too obnoxious, crude and over-rated.

Whatever side of the Bridesmaids debate you were on may well define exactly how much you enjoy Feig’s modestly enjoyable plundering of the espionage genre.

Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is the ‘voice in the ear’ of one of the FBI’s celebrated field agents Bradley Fine (Jude Law). Using state-of-the-art tracking software at FBI HQ, Cooper guides Ford through a dangerous mission to discover the whereabouts of a nuclear device that the mysterious Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) has on the market to the highest bidder. When Ford is assassinated and the identities of all the other undercover FBI agents (including Jason Statham’s wonderfully resentful, rogue agent Rick Ford) are revealed, a guilt-ridden Cooper volunteers to take on the challenge of uncovering the bomb’s location to save the world from nuclear annihilation.

Feig’s screenplay is a good deal more ambitious than he is capable of delivering directorially, and while there are certainly some unforgettable sequences and some hilarious dialogue, the film struggles to maintain the breath-draining pace and equilibrium that it needs in order to feel like the gold-plated comedy experience it is trying a little too hard to be.

McCarthy, though, is brilliant, and Spy would be instantly forgettable if it wasn’t for her exceptional clowning skills and the extent to which she wholeheartedly throws herself both at, and into, the role of the endearing agent Cooper.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: What's Your Number?

What’s Your Number? Rated MA 15+ (strong sexual references). 106 minutes. Directed by Mark Mylod. Screenplay by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden. Based on the novel 20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak.

While Ally Darling (Anna Faris) is travelling home having been unceremoniously sacked from her marketing job, she reads a magazine article informing her that women who have had more than 20 sexual partners rarely end up happily married to the love of their life. Determined to be happily married like her younger sister Daisy (Whip It’s Ari Graynor) is about to be, Ally enlists the help of her neighbour Colin (Chris Evans) to track down her 19 ex-lovers in the hope that one of them will have become her Mr Right.

One thing is an absolute certainty. It will be a race to the best seats for fans of Mr Evans (Captain America) and the sparkling Ms Faris (Scary Movie) as they cavort (mostly in various degrees of undress) in this gleefully smutty, opportunistic romantic comedy that also – somewhat strangely – happens to be a laughter-free zone.

Like its step-sister Bridesmaids, What’s Your Number? focuses on the travails of an under-achieving young woman in the lead-up to a big family occasion with all its attendant tension and potential for chaos. It's an increasingly disturbing trend, and the wedding sequences (with Blythe Danner chewing up the scenery as the girls’ mum, Ava) all rather regretfully play out with a musty whiff of familiarity – and long before the film grinds to a halt, we are utterly convinced that there is a much better movie struggling to get out from underneath all the screenplay’s layers of contrivance.

What saves it from being a frightfully predictable bore is Ms Faris’s immensely likable Ally daring to re-visit her ex-lovers and Mr Evans’s smooth-as-silk, struggling muso Colin who, having been the master of the one-night-stand, finds himself falling in love with this creative, determined and optimistic young woman across the hall. The film’s best scenes are certainly when this joyful, jaded but charismatic pair are at their unrestrained and romantic best – which, sadly, is still not enough to make it truly memorable.

Pictured: Chris Evans and Anna Faris in What's Your Number?

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids. Rated MA15+ (strong coarse language, sexual references and a sex scene). 125 minutes. Directed by Paul Feig. Screenplay by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo.

It is often said about comedy that timing is everything – and if Bridesmaids doesn’t quite sustain its arrival in the realm of tear-inducing hilarity (which it absolutely reaches in one sensational sequence in a posh bridal gown shop), it’s certainly not through want of trying.

It’s not often you laugh until you cry in the cinema much anymore, but the winning bridal gown shop sequence not only charges across the boundaries of good taste, but also successfully crashes through the gender barrier – blissfully escorting Bridesmaids into toilet humour (both metaphorically and actually) territory that is usually reserved for similar movies about blokes.

Annie (Ms Wiig, who also co-wrote the screenplay) is unlucky in love and life generally. Her small bakery business has gone bust, and she has found herself broke, miserable and desperately trying to rediscover her self-esteem. When her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces that she getting married, Annie is invited to be Maid of Honour. Will our defeated and directionless heroine be able to rise to the challenges of the occasion?

The success of Bridesmaids all hinges on a delightfully self-deprecating performance from Ms Wiig (who is well-known to American audiences as one of the stars of the hit comedy show Saturday Night Live). It’s a star turn, but without any of the usually attendant vanity and ego. Ms Wiig is supported by an excellent ensemble of characters including Molly (the seriously unhinged sister of Lillian’s fiancé) who is played with ferocious intent by Melissa McCarthy (pictured above, centre), and a fabulous turn by Australian-born Rose Byrne as wannabe socialite Helen.

If there is a fault, it’s that Feig’s experience as a director for television (the US version of The Office, Weeds, Arrested Development) results in an essentially one-dimensional visual engagement with the material. But Bridesmaids’ profound lack of directorial ambition and depth is the only disappointment in a movie that sets a new benchmark in the evergreen ‘Chick Flick’ genre.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.