MY SPY

Dave Bautista     Kristen Schaal     Parisa Fitz-Henley    Chloe Coleman    Kim Jeong

     This mildly entertaining “spy story” is formulaic and predictable, although it’s the kind of movie many families love, with a cheeky kid, a little romance, some danger, and an uplifting message.  The bad guys are truly evil, the hero is flawed but teachable, and there are enough tense situations to produce a bit of sweat.

     Dave Bautista as JJ, a CIA agent, is charged with protecting a widow and her daughter after the woman’s husband is killed and his brother is likely to come after them, looking for valuable information hidden in a missing external drive. This is a comedown for JJ, who has just taken out a whole cluster of criminals in Paris the CIA was hoping to get information from—a mistake of overkill, literally.  Moreover, in this new assignment, he is sent to partner with Bobbi (Schaal), a tech backup who has a bad case of hero worship and aspirations to become a full-fledged spy.  JJ is disdainful of such foolishness.

     But JJ is unprepared for the child and mother he is supposed to protect.  Nine year-old Sophie (Coleman) is shown to be cagey beyond her years, and immediately identifies something her dog uncovers in their apartment—a camera (heh-heh; thank you, Internet!). The rest of the plot thereafter involves JJ’s and Bobbi’s management of the case and the appearance of a real threat.

     Young Chloe Coleman as Sophie is the best part of the movie, primarily for her acting skills, not so much for the script, which has her spouting out lines that are obviously written by an adult.  But despite the artifice, the actress pulls it off and is entertaining throughout.  

     As a former wrestling champion with ups and downs, Bautista easily conforms to the brawny, slightly wooden CIA character with a grieving heart who can be manipulated by a smart kid.  Kristen Schaal and Parisa Fitz-Henley are given roles that first present as softies, but I appreciated the fact that the writers and directors gave them some aggressive tools to use at critical moments.

     My Spy is clearly a family film meant to inspire without getting too far into controversial issues.  It’s mainly a light, fun film for those looking for just that.

A film meant for those wanting a feel-good story with some excitement.

Grade:  C                                                            By Donna R. Copeland

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE

Voices of:  Jordan Peele   Kevin Hart   Thomas Middleditch   Nick Kroll   Ed Helmsl   Kristen Schaal

     The setting of this animation of absolutely no value is grade school with a mean principal, Mr. Krupp (Helms) who has it in for two student cartoonists, George (Hart) and Harold (Middleditch), pranksters who constantly thwart Krupp’s efforts.  Of course, he is shown as being just as humorless and bad as the two pranksters are “funny.”  Funny is in quotes because the humor always has a scatological reference.  Let me list the words—you’ll be amazed that they could get this many into an 84-minute production:  Underpants (of course), toilet, toilet plunger, toilet paper, Uranus, peeing, farting, pooping, and diarrhea.  There’s even a Professor Poopypants (Kroll) and a farting symphony.  Not only is the principal disparaged in this film; so are school, science, and good students. 

     The basic premise of the plot is that mean Mr. Krupp threatens to put George and Harold into separate classrooms, which they’re convinced will destroy their friendship forever.  In desperation, they snoop around his office and find some of their things, which Mr. Krupp had confiscated, like a “hypnosis ring.”  With it, they’re able to put him in a trance, which transforms him by removing his clothes and putting him into underpants and a red cape.  An unanticipated side effect is that he thinks he’s a superhero and they start calling him “Captain Underpants.”  In this role he’s seen as partly a dumb fool and partly more heroic than he is in his natural state.  Anytime he starts transforming back into the principal, the two boys simply snap their fingers and sing “Tra-la-la”, and he’s in his underpants and cape again.

     Mixed into the plot is a mad scientist (Kroll) with a German accent and a hairdo that looks like a wild Einstein who gets hired to teach science.  He is Professor Poopypants, with fantasies of revenge for being imprisoned, and one of his efforts is to wipe out all laughter in the world.  This will clearly impede George’s and Harold’s comic book business, so they team up with Captain Underpants to try to destroy Poopypants.

      The ending is predictable.

     This film will appeal to five year-olds who are still in the giggly potty humor phase, but it gets very tiresome for other ages—particularly those who are mature—and it is devoid of any helpful, positive qualities for children.

This is for those who still think potty jokes are funny.

Grade:  F                                   By Donna R. Copeland

THE BOSS

Melissa McCarthy   Kristen Bell   Peter Dinklage   Kathy Bates   
Cecily Strong   Kristen Schaal   Ben Falcone

        The Boss is typical Melissa McCarthy fare (Bridesmaids, This is 40, Identity Thief, Tammy), and if you like those films, you will like this one.  I see her role in Spy (written and directed by Paul Feig) as one that shows her more serious acting abilities, and the direction I wish she would go in her career.  McCarthy has considerable acting talent, and I think it’s time for her to part with the slapstick persona she is known for and get serious.  She is one of those interesting women who are heavy, but beautiful and talented.  The reason I liked Spy so much is that Feig showed a blended, more complex character, with smarts overriding klutz.

     The story in this film is that Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is a highly successful businesswoman who grew up as a foster child—one that was returned surreptitiously to the orphanage numerous times—and now has a chip on her shoulder and determined to “make it”, no matter the cost.  And she does, but along the way she allies with “Renault” (Dinklage), her “twin” in business practices (win, whatever it takes) and sometimes lover.

          When he feels betrayed by her, he gets her charged with inside trading (the reference to Martha Stewart is explicit), and while she is in prison sees that her company goes bankrupt.  When she is released from prison, she has to completely start over, and relies on her previous assistant Claire (Bell)—whom she treated very badly—to reenter society. 

      This story is very much about sociopathy—essentially using other people (in the negative sense of the word) for one’s own narcissistic needs.  So Michelle blithely barges in on Claire and her daughter, co-opts the child’s Girl Scout cookie project to form a competing organization, all in the guise of being more generous to children than the Girl Scouts.  But Michelle’s rival, Renault (Ron, really, since he is from Brooklyn) is still seething and out to get her again.

        I won’t tell you how this turns out because I don’t need to; I’m sure you’ve already guessed.  But if you enjoy these kinds of comedies, then it will be to your taste.

         I object to this kind of movie on a number of fronts.  First, it wastes so much talent (the cast is truly fine in every respect) on a story with so much potential for substance.  Second, it models really bad behaviors too numerous to list and treats them as comedic material.  Do we really want to laugh at corporate misconduct, exploitation of employees and children, and physical altercations (note that when men fight, it is admired or at least exhilarating; when women do it, it’s comedic or even sexually titillating for some).  Well, despite the considerable talent—and the obvious enjoyment by many in the screening audience—I have to give this film a thumbs-down.

Typical Melissa McCarthy fare, in which bad business practices are presented as comedy by a very talented cast.

Grade:  D+                        By Donna R. Copeland