If you've seen any of Melissa McCarthy's movies you know she can be hilarious. She just needs the right character to play and the right script. And a director who truly believes that women can play any part in life. (Paul Feig is also directing McCarthy in the upcoming female incarnation of Ghostbusters.) And boy, do they hit all of the right notes in this movie!
I'm a huge fan of spy themes in movies, TV shows and books. But my family knows that after we're done viewing the movie or show, the first thing I'll say is how much I hate when the men have all of the good parts, and the only females are reduced to being eye-candy and "prizes" for the men to earn. (Yeah, I'm talking to YOU, James Bond, Tom Cruise's version of Mission Impossible--the TV show had meaty roles for women--and the Bourne movies.) But in this movie? Holy moley! Melissa is the star, her BFF helps her in unexpected ways, and even the lead bad "guy" is a woman, who is gorgeous, thin, snarky and spoiled rotten, yet manages to inject humor and the tiniest bit of warmth to her character. And Melissa's boss, the head of the CIA, is a woman who early on points out to Melissa that despite her being a full-fledged agent, the reason that she's worked for 10 years in a basement, talking into the earpiece of the gorgeous agent she's in love with (Jude Law, playing the ultimate eye-candy), is that he "sniped" her, convincing her that since he needed her expertise, walking him through all of his capers, that she didn't need to be out in the field. "That used to happen a lot before I got here," the female CIA director says.
There is an actual spy plot, which is not only plausible, but interesting. There are many comedic moments that had me laughing out-loud. And I was always rooting for Melissa, "my gal", to be the winner. And since there is a happy ending, she always was! Trust me, this is a great flick. And having raised all of my kids to be feminists, my sons enjoyed it as much as my daughter did. My husband said it was the best comedy he's seen in years. And a great spy movie as well. Difficult to cross multiple genres and succeed in both, but that gets done with flying colors here!
If you want more female spies, my latest book has an older female who is a retired spy, but her old life won't let her go, even though all she wants is to be allowed to sleep with both eyes closed, and to get to know her estranged daughter. And there's a sexy ex-KGB agent who wants to help her deal with her problems, but she's not used to accepting help. Find out more about Her Last Resort:
http://www.fionamcgier.com/her-last-resort.html