Review of Life of the Party (2018) by Ittiaces — 12 May 2018

Ben Falcone directs and co-writes 'Life of the Party' alongside his partner Melissa Mccarthy who stars as a naive housewife suddenly dumped by her husband for a newer model in the form of actress Julie Bowen.

McCarthy decides the only remedy for her unfortunate situation is to return to college with her daughter and finish the degree she initially sacrificed to support her family. Melissa McCarthy is a very gifted comedic actress, and I've been a fan for many years now.

This movie, unfortunately, does her no favours whatsoever. It is absolutely dire from beginning to end, and I say that with a great degree of sadness and reluctance. It's over the top, saccharin sweet, unoriginal with every cliche in the book shoved down the audience's throat in a vain attempt at garnering some humour.

The story seems like a slightly reworked version of the 80's film "Back to School" with Rodney Dangerfield which was a lot funnier. Some of the scenes looked like McCarthy adlibbing to save her life, and the camera kept rolling to capture anything remotely interesting.

The acting from the younger actresses was quite wooden and seemed forced at times. Julie Bowen is wonderful in Modern Family but was so awful in this I felt utterly embarrassed for her. Perhaps it was the editing or directing, but her role was cringeworthy.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but the hardcore McCarthy fans who could basically watch her doing her laundry and be satisfied. I'm truly sorry to say, it's pure drivel, and as one of the best female comedians out there she deserves a better vehicle for her talents.