Tammy

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Dan Aykroyd, Mark Duplass, Gary Cole, Nat Faxon, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Ben Falcone
Directed by: Ben Falcone
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Melissa McCarthy) who's lost everything reluctantly agrees to go on a road trip with her grandma (Susan Sarandon).

Review:

Tim: I wish that I liked Tammy, but I really didn't. I went into the film with an open mind, trying to look past the last few disappointing Melissa McCarthy movies. I pointed to the very impressive box office as evidence that maybe this movie would reverse the trend. Unfortunately, despite my attempts to delay judgment on the film, this is a really bad movie. There's just no way of getting around that.

I don't understand why the movie needed to focus on such a loser. I know at one point in the film, someone calls McCarthy's character a loser. They are 100% correct. The woman is a mess- she's a terrible wife (she admits this), her husband is cheating on her, she gets fired from her job and explodes in a disgusting way on the way out, and she treats her closest family horribly. I couldn't find a single redeeming quality about this person. If the film wanted to go that route, that's fine, but don't ask us as the audience to like about or care about a complete and total loser. This becomes even more crazy when a guy starts to fall in love with her, for no apparent reason. I'm not trying to be overly harsh, as Tammy's depiction here is realistic. However, I just didn't see why such an unsympathetic character would be attractive to someone else. And, it had nothing to do with her appearance- she's just a stupid, selfish person.

The film also meanders from a straight comedy to some surprisingly dramatic scenes, but the transition next feels smooth. The disjointed movement from these scenes is a little jarring. One of the best scenes is also one of the most dramatic- when Kathy Bates confronts Melissa McCarthy towards the end of the movie. It's an effective, brutally honest, great scene. However, it's just floating there and the scenes preceding and following it are below average. This movie is very, very uneven and I blame McCarthy's husband, director Ben Falcone. Falcone was making his directorial debut here and it shows. It's just a really average effort from a guy who clearly has no expertise. I think familial affairs often become messes and that certainly contributed to the weak Tammy.

As far as the cast, it's fine. Melissa McCarthy certainly has this weird intangible quality that makes her appealing on screen. I like her as an actress, but I just wish she had a better role here. She has a lot of screen time, but she can't succeed in making this unlikeable loser a sympathetic character. Susan Sarandon gives the best performance of the film. While there were a few moments in her performance that felt forced or off, for the most part, she embraces this complex role wonderfully. Sarandon is an example of an actress taking a difficult, unlikable character and giving her just enough wounded humanity to make us feel for her. McCarthy needs to study what Sarandon did. Kathy Bates was a fine addition and had a few good moments. Allison Janney felt wasted here, and it felt like she was miscast. I think she's like 11 years older than McCarthy, so it seemed absurd that she was her mother. Dan Aykroyd was even more severely wasted in a few throwaway scenes. Mark Duplass was well cast and I thought he did an amazing job of making it seem like his character actually cared about McCarthy's. There's no logical reason for this, so I applaud Duplass for really pulling off an amazing feat. Gary Cole was a nice addition but underutilized. The same could be said for Nat Faxon, Toni Collette, and Sandra Oh. The cast looked better on paper than it did in the film. Again, director Falcone didn't get the best out of his cast.

I really, really wanted to like Tammy. McCarthy is a funny actress and I was hoping for a really funny film. Unfortunately, the talent behind the camera is as important (and likely more important) and this film just didn't have it. It was surprisingly bad and a real disappointment. McCarthy's talent is so much bigger than this film. The audience deserves better from her.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Identity Thief, Bridesmaids, The Heat