GHOSTBUSTERS

It's summer, which means movies that hope to entertain with big stars, big budgets, and often fairly little plot.  This applies to the new Ghostbusters movie, a simplebut enjoyable reboot of the 1980s movie.

Erin Gilbert (Kristin Wiig) is on the verge of getting tenure from a prestigious university -- until she discovers that a book she co-wrote with Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), promoting the existence of ghosts, is still around.  Erin confronts Abby (working at a small college), who's still trying to prove the existence of ghosts, along with the ever-smiling, possibly insane engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon).   Erin gets sucked back into the world of ghost-hunting, and when the trio all get fired from their jobs, they wind up starting their own business and focused on proving the existence of ghosts.

They soon get two new members: Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), a subway worker who knows NYC and has read massive amounts of nonfiction -- and who becomes the fourth Ghostbuster.  Then there's Kevin (Chris Hemsworth), the world's worst receptionist and a pretty dim bulb in general, but the only one who applied for the receptionist job (and who Erin has massive hots for).

But it's not easy hunting ghosts.  A nerdy little man named Rowan (Neil Casey) has been leaving small machines designed to amplify paranormal activity -- and to break down the barriers between this world and the next one.  There's also lots of skepticism about the Ghostbusters' finds, as well as a city hall that knows the paranormal is real but wants that information kept quiet so homeland security can handle it.

Ghostbusters works pretty well.  While the movie is a bit light on story, the lead actors are all terrific in their roles (especially Kate McKinnon's mad scientist) and the movie has a nice amount of action, from numerous ghosts to a haunted NYC parade to the final giant creature.  There are numerous tributes to the original movie, from appearances from both creatures and almost every star from the original (including a tribute to the late Harold Ramis) to a post-credits scene laying the groundwork for a sequel.  This is a terrific movie for the summer: light, funny and entertaining.

Overall grade: B+
Reviewed by James Lynch

SPY

Most of us know the elements/cliches of the James Bond-type spy: expensive clothing, beautiful women, international travel, elaborate fights, rogue agents, complex villainous plots.  But what happens when someone who's not quite ready gets put into that world?  That's the beginnings of Spy, a comedy from writer-director Paul Feig that has a lot of fun and laughs skewering these familiar espionage trappings.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) trained to be a field agent for the CIA, but she wound up sitting at a computer in a vermin-infested basement, giving information to super-suave field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law).  Susan has a huge crush on him, while he takes her for granted: having her take care of his personal tasks, giving her a tacky cupcake necklace instead of jewelry, etc.  His current mission is tracking Rayna Boyanov (Rose Bryne), who has a portable nuclear bomb for sale, and Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale), who's brokering the sale.  But it's not long before Rayna kills Bradley and reveals that she knows the identity of all the CIA's biggest field agents.  So Susan has an idea: Send her into the field, where she can follow and track Rayan and hopefully find the nuke.

At first Susan's assignment is a huge letdown -- she has a series of frumpy cover identities and embarrassing special gear -- but soon she's kicking ass, cursing up a storm, and getting in deeper and deeper with killers.  Complicating her assignment is big-talking CIA agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham), who's somewhat inept and prone to rambling about the horrors he's endured as a spy.  And she's "helped" by her nervous friend Nancy (Miranda Hall) and randy agent Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz) who never stops groping or hitting on Susan.

There is a lot to enjoy in Spy.  Feig has worked with McCarthy and Byrne before, and her gets terrific comic performances out of both of them: McCarthy is terrific as she transitions from a fish out of water to her own super-agent, while Byrne gets plenty of laughs as the delicate, spoiled, arrogant slightly European villainess.  Statham is especially great as self-proclaimed rogue agent who never stops spouting exaggerations about his work; and Allison Janney has a brief-but-funny turn as the head of the CIA.  The writing treats the spy movie elements with both affection and awareness of its silliness; and while there are a few lulls, the humor is pretty consistent throughout the movie.  Spy is a nice bit of comedy fun for the summer.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch

THE HEAT

The comically mismatched partners get the comedy-police treatment in The Heat, a movie continuing the trend obnoxious, gross, over-the-top humor starring women instead of men.  The Heat has two great leads, with everything else being forgettable or predictable.


The setup here is pretty simple.  Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is an ambitious, intelligent, successful by-the-book F.B.I. agent hoping for a promotion.  She's also uptight, alienates her co-workers, never curses, and has no social life.  (All of her personal photos are either her alone or with her neighbor's cat.)  Her chance at promotion comes with her new assignment -- going to Boston to arrest a drug dealer no one can identify -- and the chance to show she can work well with others.

Unfortunately for Ashburn, the Boston cop handling the case is Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), a profanity-spewing, play-by-her-own-rules battleaxe who terrorizes her squad and has no filter to her comments or violence.  Can the two work together to stop the bad guy?

The answer to that is as obvious as the rest of the movie.  Bullock and McCarthy are great together, and their polar-opposite characters have a nice chemistry.  Beyond that, though, everyone and everything else is just so much background noise.  The closest thing any of the supporting cast have to character development is Mullins' constant jokes about an albino agent; we also get such familiar scenes as an inappropriate family, getting drunk together in a bar, and quiet moments of bonding.

There are plenty of laughs from the stars in The Heat, but if you stop to think for just a second you'll see that there's almost nothing else worthwhile or original besides them.

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch