Identity Thief

Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Amanda Peet, Jon Favreau, John Cho, Robert Patrick, T.I., Genesis Rodriguez, Eric Stonestreet, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Banks
Directed by: Seth Gordon
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After his identity is stolen, an average guy (Jason Bateman) decides to take matters into his own hands and track down the thief (Melissa McCarthy) to bring her to justice.

Review:

Tim: I suppose I like the basic concept of this film- identity theft is a timely issue, and it seems like a fun idea of an average person taking matters into their own hands to bring a thief back for the police. There's certainly a lot of comedy potential in this concept. The movie does an average job of exploiting this storyline for laughs. There were certainly moments I enjoyed throughout this film. The problem is that there isn't enough consistency with the laughs, and the end of the film felt a little too Hollywood for me. In the end, while I liked aspects of this film, I certainly did not care for it as a whole.

I've never been a Jason Bateman guy, and this film didn't do much to change my mind. I'm not suggesting he is a bad actor- he did fairly well in this film, and his comedic timing was quite good. I just never liked the guy, and so I'm probably slightly harder on this film for that reason. Bateman did a decent job, but there's four or five actors in Hollywood that could easily have done better. He basically played the same role I've seen him play numerous times before.

Melissa McCarthy was pretty funny opposite Bateman. She had a few very funny moments, and is generally enjoyable on screen. I'm not the biggest McCarthy fan, either, but I admit she was quite good in the role. She and Bateman work well together, and I feel like they could easily work together more in the future. Amanda Peet was wasted as "The Wife", not offering much to the film. I loved the small role of Robert Patrick, and Eric Stonestreet actually gave a good performance as well. The supporting cast was good (well, T.I. wasn't), but this film is all about Bateman and McCarthy.

This movie does offer a few funny moments throughout the script. I admit I laughed on occasion, although certainly not consistently. The end of the film felt forced into being heartwarming. I didn't believe the ending, and it felt like a typical Hollywood ending. I admit that there was a fairly good message in the film (which I appreciate), but the execution of the story was lacking. There was a lot of potential for humor in this story, but that potential was not realized.

This film was way too long at 111 minutes. It wasn't funny enough or interesting enough to hold my attention for that duration. That made the whole film feel like a huge chore. There were more than a few moments when I asked myself, "When is this movie going to be over?" That's always, always a bad sign. Identity Thief isn't a terrible movie, but it has far too many flaws, and by not keeping the film short, those flaws were on display for way too long. I didn't care for this movie, and I never want to see it again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Horrible Bosses, The Change-Up, Bridesmaids, The Heat