I missed the screening of Paul Feig’s “Spy,” which I was so looking forward to watching. Well, I made up for it by watching it on the first day. I was not disappointed, and neither was the audience in the theatre. It was a houseful show as they say in India when you have a packed cinema theatre.
I am not going to spend time on the storyline, and instead just make a couple of quick observations. The opening scenes reminded me of James Bond 007 with shades of Peter Sellers from his famous “Pink Panther,” series. Mid-way through the film I thought I spotted dashes of Bollywood flavor. No, I am not talking about Nargis Fakhri, but a chase scene that takes place during a song and dance sequence. You will have to watch the film to see what I am talking about. Maybe, it was just me that saw that Bollywood flavor. There was a strong Anglophile flavor in the film and that is to be expected. Feig is a self-confessed Anglophile as he told me in this interivew for his film “Heat.”
McCarthy & Feig make a great team and it is clear that they are on the same wavelength. It is evident from the film that Feig is a big believer in McCarthy’s talent as an actor and a comic with brilliant timing. McCarthy takes center stage in the film and does a superb job. This is, I believe, the first film where McCarthy plays the central character and carries it through with support from Jude Law, Jason Statham and others. And may I say that it is quite a treat to see Statham play a bit of a bumbling sort of a spy? That was a masterstroke on the part of Feig and his team.
The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Allison Janney, Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale and Miranda Hart.
The Kamla Show 