It's worth mentioning, too, that Law, who has considerably more experience in lighter fare, isn't nearly as comfortable doing comedy here. His performance is taken to another level when you consider Statham didn't necessarily get to rehearse these moments.
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Many of his funniest lines were fed to the actor on set by Feig, which gave him seconds to nail them and then deliver them deadpan. Statham's poise as a model and diver serves him well he's very exact with his timing, spitting out lines at speed but always enunciating (as with the many "F" bombs). McCarthy is, naturally, the looser of the two. Both play it straight, which gives the jokes room to breathe without any nudge-nudge-wink-wink posturing.
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Statham's is an intensely controlled performance that bounces perfectly off McCarthy's amiable persona, their relaxed back-and-forth growing sharper as Susan gains the confidence to fight against her detractors. When he appears in a brand new suit out of nowhere, confusing everyone, he deadpans "I fucking made it, didn't I?" as though it makes perfect sense. Ford is a bit like Daniel Craig's Bond, only with even less patience.
There's a frequently hilarious juxtaposition between Fine's suited and booted Bond-lite (though the British Law, weirdly, sports an American accent for the role) and Ford's bald, turtleneck-sporting, and foul-mouthed east-ender (listen for how he punctuates each "fuck"). In vast contrast to Jude Law's suave Bradley Fine, Ford is rough and impulsive. Rick Ford is a truly brilliant creation, loaded with bravado but completely clueless once he's lost or, rather, thrown away the job that defines him. They're both smug, self-assured pricks, but it's impossible to hate either because they do get the job done every time – albeit in the most ludicrous manner possible. Still, neither Shaw nor Ford is necessarily a bad guy. Statham was the last person anybody else would've considered for the role, and yet it fit him like a perfectly tailored suit (of his own creation, natch).įord's refusal to accept newcomer Susan (McCarthy's previously desk-bound agent) as his equal is similar to how Shaw dismisses man mountain Hobbs who, as far as he's concerned, could never blend in the way Shaw can due to, well, looking like The Rock. Not the car, I was on fire") and a sandpaper-rough Cockney accent, Feig only had one man in mind. For the role of super-spy Rick Ford, a turtleneck aficionado with more than a few tall tales about his illustrious career ("I drove a car off a freeway on top of a train while it was on fire. Statham's Crank character was in on the joke but the actor still played it straight, which made his portrayal even funnier.
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When Spy writer-director Paul Feig caught Statham in the ludicrously entertaining Crank movies, he knew instantly the tough-as-nails action star could do comedy even if, at the time, it was the furthest thing from his repertoire. Before that, though, Statham took on a comedy heavyweight in the form of Melissa McCarthy. Spin-off Hobbs & Shaw finds him tussling with fellow bald and hard-man The Rock. In previous lives, he was a championship diver, martial arts master, and a fashion model before making a seamless transition into acting via a variety of tongue-in-cheek action movies culminating in Statham's inevitable joining of the Fast & Furious family.