Spy

Sometimes Melissa McCarthy is too much of a good thing (get it?) but I was laughing out loud just about all the way through “Spy” (2015). I also sometimes become numb to movies that shower me with a 119-minute fusillade of F-bombs, but listening to McCarthy and Rose Byrne rip each other a new one was almost “Sopranos” worthy. It’s a comic retelling of a Bond-like story, with BMWs, helicopters, poisoned drinks and McCarthy’s schtick. The pacing is good and a strong commitment to both the action (arterial spray) and comic (stool softener) genres balance each other (and McCarthy) nicely.

Bad Words

I am somewhat perplexed that I liked such an unlikeable film about such an unlikeable person. Jason Bateman, apparently tired of playing uptight white guys in 758 films over the past couple of years, wrote and directed “Bad Words” (2013). In it, he plays a sociopathic white guy who is using a national spelling bee to settle a vendetta 40 years in the making. There are cliche bad-boy hijinks to ensure an R rating and a cliche relationship with an extremely unsociopathic young contestant, but other plot and dialogue conventions are mocked throughout. Which might be why I liked it.