Marielle Heller's Can You Ever Forgive Me? has the potential to change this in the fall, but as a comedian and actress, Melissa McCarthy basically plays two very broad characters. McCarthy either goes all-out with a foul-mouthed vulgarity, deriving humor from her brashness, or she plays a stereotypical folksy dolt, leaning into a kind of awkward clumsiness. The best role of McCarthy's career came in Spy, the 2015 film that should have spawned a franchise, which found the Oscar nominee blending her two comic approaches with excellent results. But individually, these wildly different character styles have produced very mixed results, and Life of the Party finds her brand of humor at its absolute worst. The comedian's latest is full of obvious attempts at easy humor, but in addition to its profound lack of genuine laughs, it's a disaster on virtually every basic filmmaking level. A cringe-worthy comedy lacking in substance, character development, or even a functional story, McCarthy's latest is a painful missed opportunity.
After dropping off her daughter, Maddie (Molly Gordon), for the all-important senior year of college, Deanna Miles (McCarthy) gets some really bad news- her husband (Matt Walsh) wants a divorce. Deanna is completely blind-sided by this development, and she's even more devastated that the man she's loved for over 20 years is leaving her for a wealthy real estate agent (Julie Bowen). Aimless and depressed, it seems like all hope is lost for Deanna. But then, she has an epiphany- what if she went back to school and got her degree? She was forced to drop out in order to have Maddie, so this provides the perfect opportunity for her to rebound. Ever the optimist, Deanna makes the most of her college experience. She parties with Maddie's friends (Adria Arjona, Jessie Ennis, Gillian Jacobs), hooks up with a frat guy (Luke Benward), and struggles through upper level archaeology classes. But most importantly, college life brings her closer to her beloved daughter.
That synopsis is a long-winded way of saying that absolutely nothing happens in this movie. Seriously, this is one of the more inept comedic screenplays I've seen realized on the big screen in a very long time. Life of the Party relies solely on McCarthy's comedic charm, which mostly involves her stumbling into increasingly awkward everyday situations where she can fall down and act ridiculous. The film's physical comedy consistently disappoints, resulting in sequences that are cringe-worthy in all the wrong ways. It gets so bad that the whole thing almost begins to feel like anti-comedy after a while, even though that was certainly not the intention of screenwriters McCarthy and Ben Falcone (also the director). A sequence where Deanna sweats profusely and ends up with pieces of tissue on her face while giving an oral presentation is a highlight of misery, but the film is peppered with scenes that utilize a similar format.
The comedic black hole at the center of Life of the Party is exacerbated by the utter lack of narrative momentum, or even a story worth telling in the first place. Conceptually, this whole endeavor could have been worse. College humor is always a gold mine, and films like Animal House and Neighbors have produced great results in this subgenre. And to be fair to this film, it's not like the college comedy is notoriously heavy on plot. But there has to be at least some tension in your film, some reason for the audience to care about what's happening on screen. Life of the Party isn't really about anything at all, nor does it have the necessary comedic brilliance to keep things compelling. Any modicum of drama that arises throughout the film is either instantly solved or ignored entirely, and it becomes abundantly clear that McCarthy and Falcone really have no idea what they're doing. It's a series of one-note jokes, replayed over and over. As Deanna and her friends jump from party to party, it's obvious that this movie has nothing of substance to offer.
There also isn't a single interesting character in sight. Not only is the film missing a cohesive narrative- it's also missing those pesky little things known as character arcs. Beyond McCarthy, Life of the Party has a lot of talent in its ensemble. Gillian Jacobs, Modern Family's Julie Bowen, Maya Rudolph, Stephen Root, even Jacki Weaver- these are genuinely brilliant performers. None of them have anything to do in this film; I'd call the characters one-dimensional if there was even a dimension to be found. The core of the "story" is the relationship between Deanna and Maddie, but we never get the sense that they're changed by this experience, nor does it seem like Maddie has any personality or agency in the first place. They love each other in the beginning of the movie, and they love each other at the end. The film is so laser focused on Deanna's seemingly never-ending stream of dopey antics that it never gives Maddie or any of the other characters the attention they deserve. Instead, we're treated to a static relationship between two people we know barely anything about. It's exhausting on a number of levels.
Falcone and McCarthy are married in real life, but their previous collaborations, 2014's Tammy and 2016's The Boss (both rated R, oddly enough), resulted in almost universally bad reviews. I smartly avoided those two films, but I wasn't smart enough this time around- and I'm already a little terrified about their Christmas 2019 project. Life of the Party is the kind of movie you can skip without hesitation- there's just nothing here. Even devoted fans of McCarthy will likely find her latest offering to be grating and tiresome, a whole lot of comedic cliches without a good story or a touching emotional core. Unless Falcone and McCarthy's goal was to make the audience cringe from second-hand embarrassment, Life of the Party falls flat in spectacular fashion.
THE FINAL GRADE: D (3.7/10)
Image courtesy of Warner Bros./New Line
Poster: Warner Bros./IMDb
After dropping off her daughter, Maddie (Molly Gordon), for the all-important senior year of college, Deanna Miles (McCarthy) gets some really bad news- her husband (Matt Walsh) wants a divorce. Deanna is completely blind-sided by this development, and she's even more devastated that the man she's loved for over 20 years is leaving her for a wealthy real estate agent (Julie Bowen). Aimless and depressed, it seems like all hope is lost for Deanna. But then, she has an epiphany- what if she went back to school and got her degree? She was forced to drop out in order to have Maddie, so this provides the perfect opportunity for her to rebound. Ever the optimist, Deanna makes the most of her college experience. She parties with Maddie's friends (Adria Arjona, Jessie Ennis, Gillian Jacobs), hooks up with a frat guy (Luke Benward), and struggles through upper level archaeology classes. But most importantly, college life brings her closer to her beloved daughter.
That synopsis is a long-winded way of saying that absolutely nothing happens in this movie. Seriously, this is one of the more inept comedic screenplays I've seen realized on the big screen in a very long time. Life of the Party relies solely on McCarthy's comedic charm, which mostly involves her stumbling into increasingly awkward everyday situations where she can fall down and act ridiculous. The film's physical comedy consistently disappoints, resulting in sequences that are cringe-worthy in all the wrong ways. It gets so bad that the whole thing almost begins to feel like anti-comedy after a while, even though that was certainly not the intention of screenwriters McCarthy and Ben Falcone (also the director). A sequence where Deanna sweats profusely and ends up with pieces of tissue on her face while giving an oral presentation is a highlight of misery, but the film is peppered with scenes that utilize a similar format.
The comedic black hole at the center of Life of the Party is exacerbated by the utter lack of narrative momentum, or even a story worth telling in the first place. Conceptually, this whole endeavor could have been worse. College humor is always a gold mine, and films like Animal House and Neighbors have produced great results in this subgenre. And to be fair to this film, it's not like the college comedy is notoriously heavy on plot. But there has to be at least some tension in your film, some reason for the audience to care about what's happening on screen. Life of the Party isn't really about anything at all, nor does it have the necessary comedic brilliance to keep things compelling. Any modicum of drama that arises throughout the film is either instantly solved or ignored entirely, and it becomes abundantly clear that McCarthy and Falcone really have no idea what they're doing. It's a series of one-note jokes, replayed over and over. As Deanna and her friends jump from party to party, it's obvious that this movie has nothing of substance to offer.
There also isn't a single interesting character in sight. Not only is the film missing a cohesive narrative- it's also missing those pesky little things known as character arcs. Beyond McCarthy, Life of the Party has a lot of talent in its ensemble. Gillian Jacobs, Modern Family's Julie Bowen, Maya Rudolph, Stephen Root, even Jacki Weaver- these are genuinely brilliant performers. None of them have anything to do in this film; I'd call the characters one-dimensional if there was even a dimension to be found. The core of the "story" is the relationship between Deanna and Maddie, but we never get the sense that they're changed by this experience, nor does it seem like Maddie has any personality or agency in the first place. They love each other in the beginning of the movie, and they love each other at the end. The film is so laser focused on Deanna's seemingly never-ending stream of dopey antics that it never gives Maddie or any of the other characters the attention they deserve. Instead, we're treated to a static relationship between two people we know barely anything about. It's exhausting on a number of levels.
Falcone and McCarthy are married in real life, but their previous collaborations, 2014's Tammy and 2016's The Boss (both rated R, oddly enough), resulted in almost universally bad reviews. I smartly avoided those two films, but I wasn't smart enough this time around- and I'm already a little terrified about their Christmas 2019 project. Life of the Party is the kind of movie you can skip without hesitation- there's just nothing here. Even devoted fans of McCarthy will likely find her latest offering to be grating and tiresome, a whole lot of comedic cliches without a good story or a touching emotional core. Unless Falcone and McCarthy's goal was to make the audience cringe from second-hand embarrassment, Life of the Party falls flat in spectacular fashion.
THE FINAL GRADE: D (3.7/10)
Image courtesy of Warner Bros./New Line
Poster: Warner Bros./IMDb
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