Don’t look now but Melissa McCarthy might be turning into Kevin James.
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“Tammy” is the latest Melissa McCarthy comedy vehicle, this time about a frustrated fast food worker who finds herself on a crazy road trip with her alcoholic grandmother. Susan Sarandon steps in as the Grandma, with smaller performances from Allison Janney, Kathy Bates, and Dan Aykroyd surrounding them. So with this stellar group of actors around one of the funniest women on the planet why do I feel like I left the theater having had the movie version of a fast food drive thru experience? Good for what it is, but primarily a regrettable decision.
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Honestly, the most frustrating thing about this is I’m a fan of McCarthy. I think she’s really funny and have even begun to see some real acting chops in some of her recent work, even in this. In fact, she even seems to be holding her own dramatically against Sarandon, with some truly emotionally captivating moments. Let’s just go ahead and call her acting the best thing, the way she deftly shifts between goof ball and genuine human hurt is a real gift. I just wish she had better material to showcase it in the right way. But instead of integrating her talent into a cohesive story this movie can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a slapstick farce a la Kevin James, an R rated raunch fest a la Seth Rogen, or a quirky heartfelt romp a la Steve Carell. It’s fine that McCarthy is willing to get laughs with physical comedy or R rated hi-jinks, I just don’t think she needs it to succeed long term. I even think it short circuits the romance a bit by overplaying the self deprecation. I think McCarthy is a beautiful and funny gal, and I would love to see her in a movie that doesn’t rely on the “fall down go boom” mentality to showcase her. But maybe this is what she wants, I mean she did co-write it with her husband who directs it after all. So I guess if she wants to be the female version of Kevin James, so be it, it’s a living, but I just think she could be so much more.
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But not in this movie, it’s just not well put together. The story lacks the cohesion and focus needed to go for anything deeper than an amusing passive experience. Sure there will be some laughs, and maybe even an emotion or two, but those pieces are hit and miss and just don’t add up to much of an engaging whole. But the worst thing about it is that it just makes it feel slow. Because the plot lacks engagement I didn’t find myself motivated to stay invested in what was going on, which makes the overall experience somewhat akin to driving down a boring stretch of road punctuated by the occasional chuckle of a funny billboard. Sure the laugh is nice, but it doesn’t mean the journey is worthwhile.
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At the end of the day, “Tammy” is a mediocre comedy with a few laughs and a few emotional moments. None of which can make up for a disjointed storyline and the wasting of Melissa McCarthy’s formidable talents. For me, Tammy drives off with a C-
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