But it wasn’t until 2011’s Bridesmaids that she broke through on the big screen: As Megan Price, the crass weirdo who ends up being the voice of reason, McCarthy earned an Oscar nomination and stole the movie from her more-famous co-stars. Years of movie bit-parts later, she landed her own series, Mike & Molly, which won her an Emmy. And not only is McCarthy a star, she’s a writer and producer of a lot of her own vehicles, collaborating with husband Ben Falcone on a series of unapologetically broad comedies that, for the most part, have clicked with audiences.Īn alumnus of the Groundlings, the actress cut her teeth doing sketch work and developing funny characters before being cast as Sookie on Gilmore Girls. In an industry that’s still dominated by male-driven movies, she’s nearly alone among female stars when it comes to her ability to open big, mainstream comedies that aren’t solely rom-coms. No one in the Hollywood biosphere is quite like Melissa McCarthy. This article was first published in 2018 and has been updated to include Melissa McCarthy’s more recent films - including The Little Mermaid. If this film does have any kind of lasting legacy, it will be the coming out party for McCarthy as a premier comedy actress.Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture While the movie isn’t unforgettable, it is definitely worth seeing due to the role of McCarthy. Identity Thief is an entertaining film with a solid cast. While he doesn’t have a major role like he does in ATL (2006) or Takers (2010), he has proven to be multi-talented in the entertainment industry. In Identity Thief, he plays one of the antagonists trying to hunt down the woman claiming to be Sandy Patterson. Harris is known for his music, of course, but while his music career seems to be dwindling, he is establishing himself as an actor. Speaking of music, the film’s cast features rapper Tip “T.I.” Harris. If you’re familiar with McCarthy’s brand of humor, you can imagine just how funny it is watching her sing these songs while driving Bateman’s character crazy. The songs include “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross, “Barracuda” by Heart, and “Milkshake” by Kelis. McCarthy’s character does her own renditions of the songs in the most hysterical way possible. Most of the musical pieces are played while the characters are driving. The soundtrack of the movie lends itself to the humorous nature of the film. Bateman does have his funny moments, which caught me off guard having spent most of the movie laughing at McCarthy’s character. The beginning is nearly identical to Horrible Bosses, as he is a businessman that is good at what he does, yet is unappreciated by his boss. I was correct in assuming that Bateman would play the same role he always seems to play. She definitely does her part in earning the film its “R” rating. The humor is so crude and outrageous that I applaud McCarthy simply for keeping a straight face throughout the scenes. McCarthy’s role can be best compared to a modern day female version of Chris Farley. The McCarthy’s outrageous humor contrasted with the serious role Bateman plays makes this film worth seeing, especially if you are in need of a good laugh. While Bridesmaids may have put McCarthy on the map, Identity Thief is her breakthrough performance into stardom. The big draw of this movie is McCarthy, who is known best for her hilarious role of Megan in the film Bridesmaids. Along the way, the two Sandy Pattersons face several entertaining misadventures. The real Sandy Patterson must travel to Florida and bring her back to his hometown of Denver in order to prevent his entire life from falling apart. She then uses Sandy’s information as her own in order to purchase anything her heart desires, from alcohol to a Fiat and everything in between. The film opens with mild-mannered businessman Sandy Patterson (Bateman) on the phone with a woman (McCarthy) who tricks him into giving away his personal information. However, I made a crucial mistake in not taking McCarthy’s character into account. The movie seemed destined to be like any other comedy of the past three years. While Jason Bateman is a very good actor, he seems to play the same role of good-guy businessman that lets people push him around every time he’s on screen (Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses), and Identity Thief would appear to be no exception. This is due in large part to Melissa McCarthy’s performance. The film left me pleasantly surprised and wildly entertained. To be honest, expectations were mediocre at best before seeing Identity Thief.
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