“Bridesmaids” star Melissa McCarthy took her bull-in-a-china-shop acting style to new heights as an action hero in Spy (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Unrated, $39.99).
Her exploits as a mild-mannered CIA analyst turned into lethal agent to stop the selling of a nuclear device (Jane Bond meets Austin Powers) makes its Blu-ray debut after a successful theatrical run with help from an eye-watering, unrated, extended edition.
With help from a talented cast including Jude Law, Rose Byrne and the surprisingly amusing Jason Stratham, director and writer Paul Feig balances the right amount of combat thrills, sophomoric silliness and potty-mouthed diatribes to turn “Spy” into one of the funniest movies of the year.
I’m sure the digital transfer looks solid, but I was too busy squinting from laughing so hard to notice.
The generous extras back up the lunacy, spending over 90 minutes on featurettes concentrating on the actors improv, alternate takes, the director changing the cast’s dialogue during takes and a really amusing gag real thanks to the near unbreakable comedic style of Miss McCarthy.
It’s also worth listening to the enthusiastic Mr. Feig along with director of photography Bob Yeoman, producer Jessie Henderson, gaffer John Vecchio and fight coordinator Wally Garcia on an optional commentary track (available for both the theatrical and unrated cuts).
The gang offers a bunch of facts and behind-the-scenes information on the movie shoot as Mr. Feig orchestrates the proceedings while asking many questions of the participants and explaining the origins of the ugly cupcake necklace.
And, to top off the film deconstruction, viewers get an almost 60-minute overview of the movie with lots of cast and production interviews as well as a look at some of the great fights scenes.
The battle in a hotel kitchen between Miss McCarthy’s character and a female assassin is especially insane.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.