Spy (2015 film)
Spy (2015 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spy | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Paul Feig |
| Produced by | Paul Feig Jessie Henderson Peter Chernin Jenno Topping |
| Written by | Paul Feig |
| Starring | Melissa McCarthy Jason Statham Rose Byrne Miranda Hart Bobby Cannavale Allison Janney Jude Law |
| Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
| Cinematography | Robert Yeoman |
| Edited by | Dean Zimmerman Don Zimmerman |
Production
company |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates
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Running time
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120 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $65 million[2] |
| Box office | $230.5 million[3] |
Contents
Plot
Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is a desk-bound CIA analyst guiding her partner Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) on a mission to Bulgaria from a CIA office in the Washington, D.C., area. Fine accidentally kills Tihomir Boyanov without first finding a suitcase nuke whose location is known only to Boyanov. Meanwhile, the agency learns that Boyanov's daughter Rayna (Rose Byrne) might know the location of her father's device, so they send Fine to infiltrate her home. However, Rayna shoots Fine dead while Susan watches online. Rayna knows the identities of all the agency's top agents, including Fine and Rick Ford (Jason Statham). Susan, who is unknown to Rayna, volunteers to become a field agent, and her boss, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney), agrees. Ford quits in disgust over Susan being chosen for the assignment.Susan is sent to Paris to spy on Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale). Ford also appears, and Susan sees an assassin working for De Luca, and one of his contacts (Nargis Fakhri), exchanging Ford's bag for one with a bomb inside it. Susan warns Ford, then catches up to the assassin, but he is killed when they fight. Susan follows De Luca to Rome, where she meets her contact Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz), a suave Italian informant who makes inappropriate advances towards her. Susan meets Rayna in a casino, prevents Rayna's assassination, and becomes part of her inner circle. When they fly in her private plane to Budapest, the steward kills the bodyguard and pilots and tries to kill Rayna, but Susan subdues him and lands the plane in Budapest.
Rayna believes Susan to be a CIA spy, but Susan convinces her that her father hired her to be Rayna's bodyguard. In Budapest, the two encounter Susan's best friend Nancy (Miranda Hart), who is sent by Crocker to provide back-up After being shot at in the street, Susan orders Nancy to get Rayna to safety while she pursues the shooter's vehicle. The shooter turns out to be CIA double agent Karen Walker (Morena Baccarin), who sold Rayna the names of the agents. As she is about to shoot Susan, Walker is killed by an unknown sniper. Later that night, Susan and Nancy accompany Rayna to a party. The contact is De Luca's associate, Lia. Nancy creates a diversion so Susan can fight Lia, who is a skilled assassin. Fine appears and kills Lia, then reveals that he faked his death so he could become Rayna's lover.
After Susan is captured, Fine reveals to her that the real reason he faked his death was to gain intelligence on the device's location, which could only happen if he gained Rayna's trust. Susan escapes, poses as a double agent, and accompanies Rayna and Fine at De Luca's mansion. Chechen terrorist Solsa Dudaev (Richard Brake) and his men arrive to purchase the device for a suitcase full of diamonds. Rayna then reveals the location of the device. However, De Luca, now in possession of the device and doubting that Dudaev can safely smuggle it into the United States, kills him and his men and keeps the diamonds. De Luca intends to sell the device to someone who can transport it to New York City within a week. As De Luca is about to kill Rayna, Ford appears and distracts him, allowing Susan to save Rayna's life again.
De Luca escapes with the device and diamonds on his helicopter, with Susan and Ford clinging to the landing gear. Ford loses his grip and falls into the lake, leaving Susan to confront De Luca in the helicopter alone. After Nancy and Aldo arrive in a helicopter and help Susan kill De Luca, Crocker shows up to recover the device. Rayna is arrested, but it's implied that she has come to like Susan as a friend. After Aldo reveals to Susan that his real name is Albert and he is an MI6 agent, he invites her to dinner should they ever cross paths in London, which Susan accepts. Susan declines a similar offer from Fine and instead opts for a girls' night out with Nancy. The next morning, Susan is shown screaming after waking up amidst empty champagne bottles and realizing that she has slept with Ford.
Cast
- Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper / Carol Jenkins / Penny Morgan / Suely Poltergeist / Francis Mays
- Jason Statham as Rick Ford
- Rose Byrne as Rayna Boyanov
- Jude Law as Bradley Fine
- Miranda Hart as Nancy B. Artingstall / Amber Valentine
- Bobby Cannavale as Sergio De Luca
- Allison Janney as Elaine Crocker
- Peter Serafinowicz as Aldo / Albert
- Richard Brake as Solsa Dudaev
- Morena Baccarin as Karen Walker
- Björn Gustafsson as Anton
- Nargis Fakhri as Lia
- 50 Cent as Himself
- Zach Woods as Man in Purple Tie
- Jessica Chaffin as Sharon
- Will Yun Lee as Timothy Cress
- Carlos Ponce as Matthew Wright
- Michael McDonald as Patrick
- Jamie Denbo as Casino Hostess
- Ben Falcone as American Tourist
- Katie Dippold as Katherine
- Steve Bannos as Alan, the Bartender
- Mitch Silpa as Fredrick / Colin
- Verka Serduchka as Himself
- Paul Feig as Drunken Guest at Paris Hotel
Production
Development
On June 18, 2013, it was announced that Paul Feig was developing Susan Cooper, a female spy comedy, for 20th Century Fox. Feig wrote and directed the film.[4] Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping also produced the film under the Chernin Entertainment banner.[6] On November 12, 2013, Fox announced a release date of May 22, 2015.[7] On March 28, 2014, the film's title was changed to Spy.[8]Casting
On July 25, 2013, it was confirmed that Melissa McCarthy was in negotiations to play the title role of Susan Cooper, a female comic version of James Bond.[9] On October 17, Rose Byrne also joined the cast of the film.[10] On October 21, it was reported that Jason Statham met with Feig to begin talks about joining the cast;[11] he later joined on February 26, 2014.[12] On March 6, 2014, it was reported that actor Jude Law was in final talks to join the cast of the film.[13] On March 12, it was revealed that internationally known actress Nargis Fakhri would make her Hollywood debut with the film, playing the role of a secret agent.[14] On March 28, Miranda Hart also signed on to star in the film,[15] while Bobby Cannavale and Nia Long were in final talks to join. (Long did not appear in the finished film.)[8] McCarthy played Susan Cooper, a CIA analyst who goes into the field following the disappearance of a suave super-spy portrayed by Law. Statham played an overconfident yet clumsy spy, and Cannavale played a villain, an Italian playboy.[8] On April 1, 50 Cent joined the cast and played himself.[6] On April 24, Feig confirmed the role of Fakhri and added two more comic actors: Peter Serafinowicz and Björn Gustafsson.[16] On April 30, both Morena Baccarin and Allison Janney joined the cast. Baccarin played one of the agency’s top spies,[17] while Janney played top CIA agent Elaine Crocker.[18] On May 2, Zach Woods joined the cast.[19] On May 29, Jessica Chaffin was added to the cast.[20]Filming
Principal photography and production began on March 31, 2014, in Budapest, Hungary.[15][21] On May 27, filming was under way in Budapest and was about to wrap up.[22] Apart from tax breaks, shooting was primarily done in Budapest because its architecture and location could allow it to appear as other places where the story took place, including Paris.[23]Release
The film was initially scheduled to be released on May 22, 2015, by 20th Century Fox.[7] In March 2015, the date was shifted to June 5, 2015, which was first assigned to B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations and Paper Towns, the former of which being taken off the schedule and the latter moved to July.[24] Prior to its official release, Paul Feig stated that Spy went through about 10 test screenings, a process - which includes recording the audience laughter for each version - he does "religiously", with Judd Apatow (who produced the Feig-directed Bridesmaids) commenting on its usefulness for a comedy film: "It doesn’t work very well if a movie is supposed to make you feel difficult emotions. If you’re making a David Lynch movie, it doesn’t work at all."[25]Spy received an early release of May 21, 2015 in Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam,[26] and of May 28, 2015 in Israel and May 29, 2015 in Norway.
Reception
Box office
As of July 27, 2015, Spy has grossed $108.2 million in North America and $122.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $230.5 million, against a budget of $65 million.[3]In North America, the film made $1.5 million from its early Thursday night showings[27] and an estimated $10.3 million on its opening day from 3,711 theaters, coming at second place at the box office behind Insidious: Chapter 3.[28] It topped the box office in its opening weekend earning $29 million.[29]
Outside North America, Spy opened in ten foreign markets on May 22, 2015, earning $12.7 million in its opening weekend from 1,810 screens, and coming in fourth place at the box office (behind Mad Max: Fury Road, Tomorrowland, and Pitch Perfect 2).[30] In the UK, Ireland and Malta, it opened with $3.9 million.[31] The film had successful openings in South Korea ($4.8 million), Russia and the CIS ($3.1 million), Australia ($2.9 million), Mexico ($1.6 million) and Taiwan ($1.3 million).[30][31]
Critical response
Spy received critical acclaim, with critics praising McCarthy and Byrne's performances, as well as Statham's surprise comedic performance.[32][33] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes lists a 95% approval rating, based on 197 reviews, with a rating average of 7.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "Simultaneously broad and progressive, Spy offers further proof that Melissa McCarthy and writer-director Paul Feig bring out the best in one another — and delivers scores of belly laughs along the way."[34] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[35] In CinemaScore polls, cinema audiences gave the film an average score of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[28]The Huffington Post review of the film praises McCarthy's performance, but criticizes the way the film "...traffics in fat jokes" and has many scenes in which characters "...point[s] out [her character] Susan's weight" or make "cracks about Susan's weight", making the film a constant "...disparagement about Susan's physique.
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