Spy Critical Response

Paul Feig was a successful director of television shows including The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Arrested Development. Feig also wrote the critically praised Freaks and Geeks. Now he is a big time filmmaker who will write and direct a Ghostbusters reboot featuring female leads.

This is good news because Feig proved himself as a comedy heavyweight when he directed The Heat and Bridesmaids. His brand of comedy returns this summer in Spy, and he again brings along his collaborator, Melissa McCarthy. Spy debuts June 4th at Aksarben Cinema and was applauded by several top film critics.

Justin Chang, Variety

“Feig’s beautifully structured, zinger-stuffed screenplay mines no shortage of amusement from the spectacle of Susan being briefed and prepped for duty...The comedy here has a shrewd double edge: On a certain level, Feig and McCarthy may well be inviting us to laugh at the sight of Susan in a bouffant wig and an oversized cat T-shirt, but they’re also taking deliberate aim at the sort of mentality that would write her off as a hopelessly unattractive loser in the first place.”

John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

“Melissa McCarthy comes into her own as a comic star in Spy, stepping out from recent supporting and co-headlining roles to become the big screen A-lister she promised to be in 2011's Bridesmaids. Lampooning the alpha-male conventions of the secret agent flick while transferring some of that badassery to an unlikely character, writer-director Paul Feig remains one of the best friends women in comedy have, managing to get yuks from fat-lady jokes while mocking a world that treats such women like they're invisible.”

Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

“What Feig does so well here is to take the spy story just seriously enough to keep us engaged ... while also giving McCarthy a number of sharp comic foils. ... (S)he gets to play off Jason Statham (as a fellow spy who refuses to take her seriously – to Susan’s credit, she never backs down from his bullying), Miranda Hart (the “Call the Midwife” star plays one of Susan’s basement buddies), and Peter Serafinowicz (as a handsy Italian ally).”

Alex Needham, The Guardian

“Spy never clambers on a soapbox, all the more subversive for making its points through jokes. Jason Statham sends up his meathead roles in a ton of terrible British gangster flicks; Cooper refers to her fists as Cagney and Lacey and asks Boyanov: “Did they make you dress like a slutty dolphin trainer?” And when the arms dealer played by Bobby Cannavale announces his plot to blow up New York within weeks, he adds: “So if you haven’t seen Phantom …” McCarthy’s mastery of slapstick is also confirmed when Cooper attempts to make a getaway on one of those mopeds with a roof, popular in continental Europe.”

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