Life of the Party | Melissa McCarthy | Zero Stars
By Kyle Osborne
Has anyone simultaneously generated more goodwill, yet more box office stink bombs than Melissa McCarthy? She is a gifted comedic actor and, by all accounts, a lovely person. Why does she rarely find material that takes advantage of these attributes?
Before you say that it’s because she’s a woman, or a woman who doesn’t fit into Hollywood’s size zero mold (both of which would normally be reasonable guesses) keep this in mind: McCarthy and her amiable husband, Ben Falcone, co-wrote Life of the Party, which was just released in theaters. Falcone also directed.
It’s a simple premise-McCarthy plays a 40-something mother of a college student. Her creepy husband has just left her for another woman, and with the fuse of her own mid-life crisis having been lit in the process, she decides to go back to college and finish her degree.
The “funny” part is that she will be in the same school as her daughter. She will be older than her fellow students, and she’ll try to fit in, and she’ll go through a make-over and become a “cougar.” She will be the fish out of water. I didn’t laugh a single time.
Admittedly, the two minute trailer promises the tired premise might have a few laughs in the sure hands of McCarthy, but…no. The movie almost feels like a set of improvised scenes with only an outline for a script. Each scene goes on too long (hey, McCarthy and Falcone are the writers and director, who’s gonna stop them?) and never closes the loop before moving along to the next unsatisfying set up. In one particular scene, her character essentially vandalizes a room—it’s a tone deaf, out-of-character distraction that throws everything we know about this well-meaning mom out the window, and to what end? Anyway…
I could go on, but there is no joy in picking at the bones of this wholly unfunny misfire. For every movie that has let McCarthy shine (Spy, St. Vincent, Bridesmaids) there are just as many bummers that might have been career-enders for someone else (Tammy, Identity Thief, The Boss).
How much do I still like Melissa McCarthy? I’ll be first in line to see her next movie, no matter what it is. Just don’t ask me to ever watch this one again.
Life of the Party is rated PG-13 (for sexual material, drug content and partying) and runs 105 minutes