Review of Identity Thief (2013) by Hoops2448 — 25 Aug 2013

Bridesmaids made Melissa McCarthy a household name and for good reason but it seems to me that no one really knows how to take advantage of her many talents. Identity Thief maroons her in a sea of bad comedy and irritatingly familiar Jason Bateman moments we have all seen a thousand times.

The film follows Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Bateman) as he travels from his family to track down a women who has stolen his identity and is slowly but surely ruining his life, one dollar at a time. Ultimately its a film made for McCarthy and a film that has literally no idea what it is doing.

It relies heavily on fart and genital humour (Much like Bateman's Horrible Bosses) and never even attempts to be intelligent as the film flips from bizarre raunch comedy to zany road movie to unemotional family film.

It doesn't have a clue where its going, what its doing or why its two main stars are acting like they've taken a fistful of tranquillizers. McCarthy wakes up when Eric Stonestreet shows up for a hilarious 10 minute sequence that successfully fooled me into thinking the film was getting better.

While funny it doesn't save a film that can't tell its beginning from its end, its just bad.