Spy (2015)

First, there was the solid Bridesmaids in 2011. Then a couple years later The Heat in 2013. Following the every two-year formula, director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy have teamed up again for another winner, hitting theaters this past weekend to very solid reviews and a very solid box office showing. Here's 2015's Spy.

For most of 10 years, Susan Cooper (McCarthy) has been an excellent analyst for the CIA, helping agents with her focus on details and all the little things. For years, she's worked with a suave, smooth and efficient agent, Bradley Fine (Jude Law), and has even developed some unanswered feelings for him. Now though, the CIA is in trouble. The daughter of a crime boss with ties to terrorists, Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), has come into possession of a small-yield nuclear device and placed it out there for the highest bidder. An additional problem for the CIA? Boyanov knows the identity of all its field agents so anyone who would be sent to track her would be in even more danger. There's only one option, and that would be Susan. With no field experience and working all those years stashed away in a basement starting at a computer screen, Susan is tasked with tracking and identifying Rayna before she can sell the nuclear device. Heading into the real world of espionage with so much on the line, can Susan pull it off?

Give credit where it's due. When Feig and McCarthy team up, they've had nothing but solid results. More impressive than that though is how they do it. Comedies can be pretty run of the mill, a reason I don't always check new comedies out in theaters. This duo and their talented crews and casts look for familiar angles/stories and try to put a fresh, unique spin on those tried and true techniques. Bridesmaids had the girlish rom-com, Heat the buddy cop relationship and here with Spy, a deftly-handled almost-spoof of espionage flicks like the James Bond and Jason Bourne series. They find what makes those angles work and tweak them here and there for something familiar with something that usually catches you by surprise. Of the three, I'd put Spy right behind The Heat, but this new comedy was excellent. Go out and see it. You shan't be disappointed.

Not everybody seems to like her -- blame Identity Thief and Tammy -- but I'm a big Melissa McCarthy fan. I really, really disliked Identity Thief a few years back, but you had to admire her energy. She commits and goes hard for the laughs. So what about when the movie is good and she's on-board with that energy? As an audience, we're in for some fun. Yes, she's funny, but it's because she's able to switch back and forth effortlessly between impeccable line deliveries and perfect physical humor. There aren't a ton of actresses out there right now who are genuinely funny, but McCarthy is at or near the top of that list. Feig's script gives her plenty of chances for laughs, and she doesn't miss too many. Her Susan Cooper is a quiet, polite, detail-oriented systems analyst...until she isn't. Thrust into a hazardous mission after years of being desk-bound, Susan finds a hard edge that she puts to good use to bring things together. An excellent performance from the very funny McCarthy.

The script certainly has its fun with McCarthy's Cooper, sometimes too much. At times, I thought it went too far beating her down, cutting her out at the knees. When it works though, those moments are very funny. Case in point? Susan doesn't get a glamorous cover...far from it. She gets the chance to pose as a cat lady, a middle-aged mom, and all sorts of other embarrassing covers. Through it all, McCarthy goes for it, smoothing over some of the rough spots.

The movie's strongest moments are in its spoof-like qualities. I should say this clearly isn't a spoof of the spy genre. It just knows the genre, plays it seriously while having some serious fun with all the familiar genre touches. The opening credits play like a James Bond credits song, the opening action sequence has been in countless 007 flicks, and you feel like you're actually watching a Bond flick. The laughs though, my goodness, they're G-O-O-D. Jason Statham absolutely steals every scene he's in as Rick Ford, a grizzled CIA agent and a spy who is ALL that is man. He's seen everything and will let you know he's seen and survived everything the world can throw at him. His character consists of countless line deliveries explaining the harrowing experiences he's made it through, one more ridiculous than the other. I had two favorites. One, explaining how one of his arms was ripped off, but the other arm was able to put reattach it. Two, Ford offering to go into the Face/Off machine...as in the one used in the 1997 action movie Face/Off. Priceless stuff.

Some very talented people clearly enjoy working with Feig as a director, especially McCarthy. The cast is so good here, much of it the script but also worth mentioning is that they look to be having a ridiculous amount of fun. Statham is a scream, and Law as his co-worker but still rival agent goes for the more suave James Bond angle. As Statham's Ford explains it, a rivalry of MEN. Byrne hams it up just the right amount as the dastardly evil villain (with a giant hair-do) and has some great scenes with McCarthy as they go toe-to-toe. Along with McCarthy and Statham, my favorite part was Peter Serafinowicz as Aldo, Susan's Italian guide, a ladies man, constantly horny, and rather handsy. Too many good laughs to mention. Also worth mentioning is Miranda Hart as Nancy, Susan's work friend who's similarly bookish, a little mousey and looking for some fun In other supporting parts, look for Allison Janney, Morena Baccarin, Bobby Cannavale, and even 50 Cent making an appearance as himself.

This is a really easy movie to like, even love for some viewers no doubt. There aren't many comedies that are both really smart and really dumb at the same time, but this one qualifies. An extremely talented cast, a good script and unique ideas with people willing to think outside the box a little. Hard to beat that. Definitely go see this one.

Spy (2015): ***/****

The Way, Way Back

I think we can all agree that growing up just sucks sometimes. The awkwardness of high school, friends, crushes, it all adds up to one big old hellish time in most people's lives. Mine was pristine and perfect so I've got that going for me. Coming of age stories translate well (always have, imagine they always will) to the big screen. This is an early review for a flick scheduled for release later this summer, 2013's The Way, Way Back.

Traveling with his mom, Pam (Toni Collette), and her boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), awkward 14-year old Duncan (Liam James) is less than excited about what his summer holds. Trent owns a beach house on the East Coast in a seaside town that always attracts huge summer crowds, and he's invited Pam and Duncan to stay with him and his daughter for an extended visit. Still trying to figure out exactly who he is as a teenager, Duncan doesn't like Trent in the least and struggles to go along with the very social environment all around him. He's quiet, awkward in social situations, but he's a smart kid just the same. One day, an exploring Duncan meets Owen (Sam Rockwell), the slacker but well-meaning owner of a local successful water park. Never one to form a fast friendship, Duncan nonetheless gets along with Owen immediately. Maybe this summer vacation won't be so bad after all.

Coming of age stories deserve a whole genre unto themselves, and that's meant as a good thing. With films like Stand By Me to Almost Famous, Sixteen Candles to The Sandlot and many others, it's a familiar genre. Again, that's a good thing. Directors, co-writers and co-stars Nat Faxon and Jim Rash team up and do it all here, and they do it all really well. I loved this movie. It is that rare movie that is content to be itself. It never tries to be something else. It is quite content being a smart, well-written, well thought out, entertaining, funny, dramatic emotionally effective flick. They filmed along the Massachusetts coast in three different cities, giving the story a realistic backdrop. It's summer vacation, but not quite what we've seen before. Composer Rob Simonsen's score is appropriately low-key, soft and natural with a little bit of quirky indie comedy/emo mindset.

We see this summer through the eyes of 14-year old Duncan, a shy, quiet kid who's still dealing with the effects of his parents' divorce a couple years down the road. Just 16 years old, James does a great job with the part. He gets the teenage angst down without being annoying, and makes a sympathetic character who's believable and actually looks and acts....like a teenager. He especially doesn't like Carell's Trent (much more on that later), wants his mom to stand up for herself, and in the meantime, doesn't plan on spending anymore time with them than he has to. We get to see him opening up to Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), a pretty girl vacationing next door and similarly from a divorced family. Courtesy of Rockwell's Owen, we see him opening up in general for the better. Kudos to Mr. James though. In an age of 29-year old actors playing teenagers, James shows a knack for making a personable, likable character who you're truly rooting for.

In his summer misadventures, Duncan finds solace at a crappy water park that's a time capsule to the 1980s (with a solid running joke there). He meets adults who he bonds with, finds a community that is welcoming of who he is, encouraging him to be himself while also branching out. I love Rockwell in just about anything he does, and this is one of his best parts. As Owen, he plays the type of friend that every kid should have. Is it a somewhat obvious part? Yes, you're supposed to like him. His motor-mouthed, work-avoiding, always ready with a joke tendencies brings this character to life though. The genuine friendship/dynamic that develops between him and Duncan is pitch perfect, authentic in a way script writers dream of achieving. It's not a father-son, brother-brother relationship, but instead a little of both. Mostly though, they're just friends, and that's all Duncan needs.

The movie runs just 96 minutes (I would have loved a longer version, but as is, it's pretty perfect) and puts all the talents of its very talented ensemble cast on display beyond James and Rockwell. Collette does a good job as Pam, Duncan's mom who's struggling with her own post-divorce life. Carell is an incredible asshole as Trent, Pam's year-long boyfriend who identifies Duncan as a '3' on a scale of 1-to-10. A despicable character, one you hate immediately. Amanda Peet and Rob Corddry play Joan and Kip, a married couple and summer friends' of Trent who are always ready for a party. Allison Janney plays Betty, Trent's over-bearing but generally well-meaning neighbor and Susanna's divorced mom. No filter here with Betty, just brutal honesty with no censor, especially with her son, Peter (River Alexander), and his wandering eye...literally. Also look for Zoe Levin as Trent's dramatic, very-teenage teenage daughter.

And then there's the crew at Water Wizz park that Duncan meets. Beyond Owen, look for Maya Rudolph as Caitlyn, a supervisor who goes up and down with Owen, writer-director-star Faxon as Roddy, Owen's longtime friend, co-worker and expert slide operator (see it, it'll come together), and writer-director-star Rash as Lewis, the germaphobe, mousy shack operator who's always one day away from leaving the job and the park.

The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. I loved the look of it, sunny and sandy. As I mentioned before, the Massachusetts beachfront ends up being an additional character. Anyone who's ever been on vacation in a lake/oceanfront setting has seen little summer towns like this. Loved the music, loved the characters, the humor and the laughs, the drama and the reality of it. I especially liked the ending, everyone ending up right where they should be. This flick doesn't come out until July 5th so you've got a couple months to wait, but it's more than worth that wait. Who wants to go see it with me?

The Way, Way Back (2013): ****/**** 

The Help

By no means did I avoid 2011's The Help, but I never actively sought it out either. A success at the box office and during awards season, I just wasn't dying to see it regardless of all the positive reviews. I'm stubborn that way apparently. So here we sit, a year later, and I caught up with it. Definitely worth the wait, and another lesson I shouldn't be so stubborn when it comes to movies.

Having just gotten her college degree, Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) heads home to Jackson, Mississippi hoping to get a job writing for a local newspaper. She gets that job, ghostwriting a column about cleaning advice. Skeeter seeks the help of Aibileen (Viola Davis), a maid who works for one of the richer, well-to-do families in town. Having grown up in Jackson, Skeeter has seen the inner workings of the town; white families served hand and foot by their African-American servants with no regard for feelings. Talking to Aibileen, Skeeter thinks it would be a great idea to write a book written from the perspective of "the help." Aibileen and her friend and fellow maid, Minny (Octavia Spencer), agree, but they're scared to death of the possible consequences.

From director Tate Taylor, this is an interesting movie to watch, digest and review. While it is a highly enjoyable film to watch, it is also intensely uncomfortable to watch because of.....well, it's honesty. Set in early 1960s Mississippi, the focus is clearly on the racism and segregation that ran rampant in the South and around much of the U.S. for years (and still does in different ways). It is a difficult movie to watch, difficult to comprehend people treat others like this. The help are treated like dirt with some believing they carry "different diseases" to the point their own bathrooms are built in garages.

Credit to Taylor and his crew though for making the movie. Set just 50 years ago from the present, it feels like we're traveling as viewers in a time machine. You watch this movie and feel like you've been transported to 1960s Jackson. Everything from the wardrobe to the sets to the big boats of cars gives 'Help' an air of authenticity. We see people smoking anywhere and everywhere, we see the violence that erupts from the developing Civil Rights movement, and the way the maids and help are treated like second-class citizens. I especially liked Thomas Newman's score as well, an underplayed score that moves the story along nicely.

By far though, the best thing going for Taylor's film is the cast. It's a deep cast. Very deep. Up until this point in her career, Emma Stone had done mostly comedic work, even some light drama. In a major starring role, Stone doesn't disappoint. It isn't a performance that requires her to carry the movie, but that's the beauty of such a strong ensemble. She develops quite the interesting character, and one that ends up being a means to an end to introduce the deeper, more dramatic parts. Also look for Allison Janney as Skeeter's mother, Charlotte, Ahna O'Reilly as Elizabeth, a young married woman who has Aibileen as a maid, Sissy Spacek as an aging Southern belle and the mother of another character (more on Hilly later), and Cicely Tyson as Constantine, the Phelan's maid who was a key figure in Skeeter's childhood.

 All those performances are solid, but four other performances end up being what many viewers took away from the film. Octavia Spencer won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part as Minny, the fiery, opinionated maid who ends up butting heads with Bryce Dallas Howard's Hilly, the -- pardon my language -- Queen Bitch in Jackson. Spencer is the showier part while Viola Davis gets the more understated and underplayed part that provides the perfect counter to Spencer's Minny. It is an epically appropriate duo, two genuine friends who have also bonded through their similar trials. Davis was also nominated for an Oscar but lost to Meryl Streep from The Iron Lady. Her motherly relationship with Elizabeth's daughter is the crux of the movie. Howard is a despicably unlikable villain in a great performance. The third nominated part goes to Jessica Chastain as Celia, an outsider in Jackson because Hilly hates her. Her relationship with Spencer's Minny ends up being a key part of the movie, a highly effective emotional relationship. Four great performances though.

If there is a complaint I had, it's that at 146 minutes, 'Help' is a tad on the long side. It's never boring and always interesting to watch, but in certain parts of the second half it felt like I had been watching the movie for quite a long time. The ending makes up for any draggy portions with a kick right in the crotch in the emotion department. It's a heartbreakingly real ending, one that while appropriate is depressing nonetheless. A very good movie overall that deserves all the kudos and accolades it's earned. Glad I caught up with it.

The Help (2011): ***/****