In Tammy, Melissa McCarthy puts out trash, brings home rubbish
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Tammy’ — Melissa McCarthy might be here for the long haul as a movie drawcard, but her comedy is best in short bursts.
Leigh Paatsch
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Tammy (MA15+)
Director: Ben Falcone (feature debut)
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Gary Cole, Mark Duplass.
Rating : *1/2
Laid on thick, spread too thin
US box-office figures suggest Melissa McCarthy is here for the long haul as a comedy movie drawcard.
However, her curiously fearless lunges at every cheap or nasty joke in the book are best experienced in short bursts.
After Identity Thief (co-starring Jason Bateman) and The Heat (Sandra Bullock), Tammy marks the third film in a row to have McCarthy annoy, mistreat and then belatedly make amends with a mismatched sidekick.
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The star attraction has the title role, a dim, dirty-talking type who has just parted ways with a crappy fast-food job and a cheating husband in quick succession.
A hard drinker and a big eater, Tammy responds to this burst of bad luck by forging right ahead and inviting some more.
She takes her alcoholic granny (Susan Sarandon) on a reckless road trip, where jetskis will be crashed, livers will be trashed and a father-and-son farmer duo (Gary Cole and Mark Duplass) will be pashed.
The joke-to-laugh ratio is low at best, and a flat zero during some ill-advised scenes.
A winning support effort in the 2011 smash hit Bridesmaids was the perfect showcase for McCarthy’s innate ability to appall as she amuses.
However, when at the wheel of her own star vehicles, McCarthy seems incapable of finding a way to the funny. If only they made GPS systems for senses of humour.
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Originally published as In Tammy, Melissa McCarthy puts out trash, brings home rubbish
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