Movie Review: Spy (2015)

Paul Feig has found his comedic muse in Melissa McCarthy and the results are simply marvellous. Bridesmaids, The Heat, and now Spy have all made me bust a gut in the theatres. Watching a good comedy is so rare these days, in the end, you like some parts but not the whole film. Meanwhile McCarthy has become the de facto queen of summer movies (barring Tammy last year) proving her name alone guarantees time well spent at the movies.

In Spy, she's Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst who has the chops to become an agent, but chooses to stay in the shadows to help Bradley Fine (Jude Law) out on his missions. Obviously, she's also got a hopeless crush on him and he's got no clue. He treats Susan more like his secretary than what she actually is, his right hand woman.

When Fine is tragically killed on assignment and the identity of the rest of the CIA agents has been revealed, it's up to Susan to step up to the plate, expose the villains and save the world from a nuclear bomb. She travels to Paris to set the plan in motion. But first, she must have a new identity as an undercover spy.

Susan wants to be somebody and even her undercover identities are boring and normal. She's easily typecast as a mom of four and owner of ten cats. But as a longtime analyst, Susan has good instincts and backed up by her friend Nancy (the hilarious Miranda Hart), they go about finding Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale) and Reyna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) who the CIA suspect have the bomb.

Throwing a large kink in Susan's plans is former agent Rick Ford (a surprisingly funny Jason Statham) who reminded me a bit of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's conversation in Hot Fuzz on all the things he's done on the police force. Rather than saving the day, he ends up being more of an impediment to Susan.

Susan, on the other hand, emerges to become a badass bodyguard to Reyna (take that, Midwestern mom!). This was, by far, my favourite part of the movie. All of sudden, Susan's not hesitant or scared anymore. She goes for it 100%. She gives herself a makeover, makes grown men cry and kicks  some serious ass. All this with an extremely potty mouth. It was glorious.

You know a film is good AND funny when not only are you laughing but also repeating the lines to yourself because it's that entertaining. I found myself doing that quite a bit. McCarthy and Feig will reunite once again for the Ghostbusters reboot next summer all but guaranteeing McCarthy's summer reign will continue. I can't wait.

Written and Directed by Paul Feig; Cinematography by Robert Yeoman; Editing by Melissa Bretherton and Brent White; Music by Theodore Shapiro

Running Time: 120 minutes

Rating: 

New Trailer: Spy (2015)

Director Paul Feig and his frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy are trying being spies this time around. After the very, very successful Bridesmaids and The Heat, the director-actress duo are surrounded by Jude Law, Alison Janney, Rose Bryne and Jason Statham as they tackle the world of spies.  McCarthy is Susan Cooper, the CIA's top analyst, who has to step up when all of their agents' secret identities are exposed.  Who's the only one to rise to the occasion?  Much hilarity ensues as Susan tries to figure out the spy game.  This trailer looks hilarious and Melissa always makes me laugh. Spy releases May 22, 2015.

Movie Review: Side Effects

Side Effects is dark, twisty and completely mesmerizing.  There's never a dull moment in it.  Director Steven Soderbergh's last few films have been quite in form and it's hard to accept the fact that this film might very well be his last big screen movie.  He hasn't ruled out television (see Behind the Candelabra) so we still have hope.

As the film opens, we get closer and closer to a nondescript building as we enter the apartment of a young couple, Emily (Rooney Mara) and Martin (Channing Tatum), to immerse ourselves into their troubled lives.  We get information about their lives through them and well-meaning outsiders who just want the best for them.  Martin is recently released from prison for insider trading and trying to get his life together again.  His wife, we're told and shown, is depressed.

After a failed suicide attempt, Emily is advised by the hospital psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Jude Law) to come in for therapy and on some medication.  Still she remains melancholy and in a decision that comes back to haunt major characters later, gets prescribed to a new and powerful drug Ablixa.  And then Emily while sleepwalking, a side effect of the drug, kills Martin and goes back to sleep.

Here's where the story picks up as the case heads to trial and Dr. Banks gets his life thrown upside down and later does his best to regroup and get back together again.  Those closeup and random throwaway shots that we get a glimpse of early in the film gain greater meaning as more and more information is revealed. An early shot of Emily glancing at her distorted reflection in the mirror by the bar says so much on so many levels.

Soderbergh does well to reveal each piece of the puzzle to us.  The only time I felt he faltered was at the obligatory flashback at the end of the film.  He handles the actors deftly and draws a fascinating performance out of Rooney Mara. She never picks uninteresting roles.  But eventually Jude Law, as the bewildered doctor, Channing Tatum, as the clueless husband and Catherine Zeta-Jones are the former psychiatrist are basically in supporting players to Mara's Emily.

This film has many Hitchcockian elements, a man wrongly accused, a scary sequence with a knife and several moments where the characters withhold information again and again which might frustrate some.  But this is a good thing, trust me, it makes it far interesting for us, the audience.  It also works well as a dark commentary of the dangers of anti-depressants and the reliance on medication that we as a society now have.

Side Effects didn't do well in its theatrical run but I have a feeling it will do better in this word of mouth format as it makes the DVD rounds.  Do it give a chance, you'll definitely be rewarded with a layered, thrilling drama.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh; Screenplay by Scott Z. Burns, Cinematography by Peter Andrews (Steven Soderbergh); Editing by Mary Ann Bernard; Music by Thomas Newman

Additional cast: Vinessa Shaw, Ann Dowd

Rating: