Melissa McCarthy does Martha Stewart.
Billion dollar smile: Melissa McCarthy with Kristen Bell
Melissa McCarthy is a force of nature – she’s both a very truthful and highly watchable performer. However, she has only herself to blame for this weak comedy as she co-wrote it – along with her husband Ben Falcone, who also directed. Yet this is not as bad as their previous collaboration, the abysmal Tammy (2014), but the plot about a hugely successful businesswoman fails to ring true. Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is convicted for insider trading but after she is released from prison reinvents herself by helping a group of young girls to sell brownies...
A lot of talent is wasted. The wonderful Peter Dinklage is not given much to do as the megalomaniac Renault, Darnell’s ex colleague and lover and now her nemesis. Kathy Bates manages to keep her dignity as Darnell’s former mentor and she is lucky that she is only involved in a couple of scenes. There are many attempts at physical comedy – falling down stairs, being crashed by a folding bed or jumping off buildings – all of which fall flat on their face. It is not offensively bad, just an underwritten, lazy film in desperate need of a proper script and direction.
GEORGE SAVVIDES
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Kathy Bates, Tyler Labine, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Margo Martindale, Ben Falcone.
Dir Ben Falcone, Pro Ben Falcone, Melissa McCarthy, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, Screenplay Ben Falcone, Melissa McCarthy and Steve Mallory, Ph Julico Macat, Pro Des Rusty Smith, Ed Craig Alpert, Music Christopher Lennertz, Costumes Wendy Chuck.
Gary Sanchez Productions/On the Day Productions-Universal Pictures.
98 mins. USA. 2016. Rel: 10 June 2016. Cert. 15.
