2011 was the breakout year for Melissa McCarthy, who earned
rave reviews for her performance in that year's runaway hit Bridesmaids. Her CBS sitcom, Mike & Molly, also debuted the
previous fall on earned her an Emmy award that year for Best Lead Actress. Now
is the time to cash in as McCarthy appears in The Hangover Part III and receives her first starring roles in The Heat (opposite Sandra Bullock) and Identity Thief.
Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is a buttoned down
accountant struggling to support his wife (Amanda Peet) and two daughters while
working under the heel of an obnoxious boss (Jon Favreau). With a baby on the
way, Sandy accepts a more lucrative position with his best friend (John Cho) at
a brand new start-up firm. Unfortunately, Sandy has absent mindedly given his
social security number to a telemarketer over the phone. Going by the name
Diana (McCarthy), the identity thief runs up exorbitant credit card debt in
Florida and gets a few arrest warrants in his name. Since the Denver police can't
do anything unless she's standing right there, Sandy hits the road to bring
Diana back himself. Easier said than done as Sandy is completely unprepared for
the obnoxious maelstrom that is Diana. Even worse, she's run afoul of two drug
dealers (Genesis Rodriguez and rapper T.I.) and a grizzled bounty hunter
(Robert Patrick).
Identity Thief was
directed by Seth Gordon, who made a splash with his debut feature The King of Kong, a delightful
documentary about vintage arcade games. Since then, Gordon has gone on to helm subpar
Hollywood comedies Four Christmases
and Horrible Bosses, along with the
occasional episode of Parks and Recreation and The Office. You
never notice the direction in films like Identity
Thief and Gordon is perfectly serviceable. Stylish shot compositions aren't
nearly as important as a funny, well-written script, which is nowhere to be
found. The screenplay by Craig Mazin (who also wrote the Hangover sequels) relies on lowbrow humor and gives its talented
cast almost nothing to work with.
The bulk of the movie is a road trip comedy in the vein of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or Midnight Run. Jason Bateman is once
again typecast as the straight arrow surrounded by outlandish characters.
Meanwhile, McCarthy plays it to the hilt with big hair and thick eyeliner that
makes her look like Mimi from The Drew
Carey Show. A little McCarthy goes a long way. She was terrific in Bridesmaids and her brief part in This Is 40 was one of the best things in
an otherwise dreary picture. Here, McCarthy wears out her welcome by the first
act. It's not entirely her fault; the character is nothing more than a cartoon.
Diana is cut from the same cloth as the annoying buffoon portrayed by Zach
Galifianakis in Due Date. By the time
Diana finally becomes a real human being in the third act the damage is done.
That's a shame since McCarthy shows off serious acting chops in turning the caricature
into a vulnerable person with real pathos. In the end, you have one person with
a grating personality, another who is an utter milquetoast, and you don't want to
root for either of them.
Sandy isn't the only victim of theft as someone must have
stolen anything remotely funny about the entire movie. The jokes are lame and
revolve around genitals or Sandy's androgynous name with a few pratfalls thrown
in for good measure. The bounty hunter and the drug dealers seemed to have only
been added to pad out the runtime. Identity
Thief simply wastes the talents of Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.
Rating: * ½ (*****)
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