True confessions.

I find Melissa McCarthy an annoying and foul-mouthed presence on the Silver Screen. Yes, “Bridesmaids” was good, or so I hear, but I’ve born witness to two other MM films – two too many. My daughter Ani, an MM fan, suggested we head to the Big Picture on a Friday afternoon to see “Spy” with one of her friends. Having rearranged my sock drawer, completed all my work for the week work, and seeking an escape from Reality for 90 minutes, I agreed to tag along.

Big Picture. Hollywood has a long history of propagandizing on behalf of the CIA. “We play the Media,” CIA director William Colby once boasted, “like a mighty Wurlitzer.” From the James Bond franchise (the Brits and the Yanks working hand in hand) to Showtime’s new hit “Homeland,” U.S. pop culture outlets deliver the pro-US imperial goods via the most powerful medium ever devised by humankind.  The real CIA, meanwhile, exists to protect US elite financial interests globally, serving as a relatively secret spear point for the US Military/Industrial/Terror Complex, and has for decades done dirty deeds – assassinations, coups, black box funded drug deals, the works – on behalf of the Deep State. So a satirical film about the CIA starring Melissa McCarthy? Just shoot me now.

But here’s the thing. I kinda liked this movie. I didn’t want to going in. But the cast is, well, well cast – Judd Law as Bradley Fine, the suavely egocentric Bond figure, Jason Statham playing against type as an angry and flailing wanna be wash up agent whose absurdly epic “tall tales” make the movie, Rose Byrne as the femme fatale in way-too-high heels, and yes, even what’s her name (see above), who plays basement-backup-turned-super agent Susan Cooper, and who is actually sort of endearing. Funny, even.

Meanwhile, director Paul Feig (yes, we can blame him for “The Heat”) has moments where he nails it, from his mocking of the action film genre (random slo mo scenes where you least expect them), to the script’s sometimes snappy jokes, goofy dialogue, and mock-preposterous plot twists. Even the sight gags – which I will not spoil for you here – are guffawingly funny, at moments. Far too many F-Bombs for my taste in this film – but since everyone says the word throughout the movie, it quickly loses whatever little shock value it may have had early on. F@#&ing fine.

So. Forget f@#$ing US history. Ignore the f@#$ing Deep State. Pay no f@#$ing mind to the CIA. Embrace your inner Melissa McCarthy. Throw all reason to the wind. Do all these things, and maybe you’ll like this film. At least, I did.