When it comes to comedies, I’m always scared that the studio put many
of the funniest scenes in the trailer. Unfortunately, that is what happened
with Identity Thief. Identity Thief is a slapstick comedy
with disjointed jokes and outlandish plot points. By the middle of the second act, I was already
wondering how much time was left in the film. With such fantastic comedic leads
as Jason Bateman (Arrested Development)
and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids),
it’s unfortunate that screenwriter Craig Mazin’s (Hangover II) script couldn’t rise to their level of talent.
Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Bateman… and at some points McCarthy) is a
caring family man stuck in a low-paying dead-end job with a horrible boss (Jon
Favreau). He has just enough money to support his wife (Amanda Peet) and two
kids, but they can’t afford any luxuries; that is, until he and his coworkers
quit their jobs and go out on their own. At his new job, Sandy is a Vice
President with a great salary. Cue Diana (McCarthy). After stealing Sandy’s
identity through a phone scam, Diana takes it upon herself to run up his credit
cards and drain his bank account. This poses a problem for Sandy when clients
from his new firm run a background check and find he is in financial ruin. In
order to save his job, Sandy promises to bring the identity thief to Colorado
to confess her crimes and clear his name.
After Sandy finds Diana in Florida, a dull road trip comedy
emerges, full of corny, obvious jokes and a pointless B story involving a
bounty hunter, assassins and snakes (Oh my!). Eric Stonestreet’s (Modern
Family) cameo doesn’t work well in the story and is a bit more disturbing than
it is funny. Another disappointing aspect of the film was that a lot of its
humor was at McCarthy’s expense. There were many unnecessary jokes about her
size and appearance that ended up being more heartbreaking than funny.
Although this is billed as a
comedy, I left the theater feeling more depressed than happy. Not just because
the movie was bad but because the dramatic elements of this comedy were what
really resonated with me; perhaps this should have been a drama instead of a
comedy. Diana’s motivation for stealing identities stems from the fact she is
extremely lonely and has to constantly deal with people laughing at her
appearance; she wants other people to feel the same hurt she feels (while
admittedly also feeding her shopping addiction). McCarthy has proven herself to
be one of the funniest comediennes in Hollywood. She is a fantastic,
scene-stealing actress who completely throws herself into her roles, losing all
semblances of herself amidst her character. It was refreshing to see she has
dramatic acting chops as well.
My Grade: C-/D+
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