'Spy' (15)

***/**** (3.5 stars)

Desk-bound CIA agent Susan Cooper is used to being the voice in the ear of Bradley Fine, a top-class agent always on active duty. When Fine’s latest mission is compromised, Cooper must step out from behind the desk and save the world from destruction.

Dear readers: You may be wondering why I, a self-confessed lover of films dark, painful and war-based, would venture to see the latest comedy release, especially as I found Bridesmaids, Feig and McCarthy’s breakthrough film, only mildly amusing. Well, it’s true – I was mostly swayed by the promise of some delicious ‘Ben & Jerry’s’ a la parental unit. However, and I even shocked myself, I found myself laughing (out loud!) at Spy, and this is mostly thanks to the excellent Jason Statham, playing Cockney ‘been there, done that’ spy Rick Ford. Sporting polo necks and hideous suit jackets, he steals the show as a spy gone rogue, who inadvertently ends up assisting Cooper (McCarthy) as she rampages across Europe in a convoluted romp about a nuclear bomb. Gifted with hilarious one-liners and essentially taking the mick out of himself throughout, Statham proves his comic timing in a film that finds itself floundering when he isn’t on screen. Yes, there are other laughs to be had – a gag about a YouTube video, a chase through the streets on motorbike, and Cooper’s first kill – are all funny, but come unevenly throughout the film, only highlighting some of the more intrinsic issues.

The premise of the film is a good one – a woman, used to being confined and thought relatively little of, breaks free and succeeds where everyone thought she would fail. However, the film isn’t as feminist as it might sound. Cooper is constantly mocked for being a woman in the field, told that she will ‘mess everything up’, whilst the villain (Rose Byrne) does little but chastise Cooper for her appearance. Similarly, there is a running ‘gag’ of sexual harassment throughout the film, whereby spy Aldo constantly gropes Cooper and makes sexual comments towards her. Once again, the female protagonist is reduced to a sexual being, as opposed to a viable spy hero. Other issues include Jude Law’s very strange accent, and Miranda Hart’s simply appalling acting – it feels as though she has wandered straight off the set of Miranda and used the same quips to try and sneak into a Hollywood film. Also, I know that sometimes fart jokes can be funny, but those are on very rare occasions, and the gross-out ‘comedy’ of a dead man shitting himself is just crass and actually really boring. Also, the incessant swearing really isn’t that funny – try a Thesaurus maybe?

Undoubtedly a mixed bag, and saved for me by Statham and his witty one-liners. A smidge too long and uneven in tone and comedy throughout, it is however mostly amusing and I wasn’t aware of quite how long I had sat there until the overly-extended finale scene. It’s not a bad film, and if I were to leave my ‘thinking head’ at the door, I probably would have enjoyed it more, but I just think that women deserve better comedy roles than this one, even though this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.