St. Vincent (2014)

I love Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts so passing St. Vincent was not an option for me, even more so if you consider the film got a Globe nomination for Best Comedy/Musical. Unfortunately, my cinema didn't show it, I missed it and it took me more than four years to catch up.

The story follows Vincent (Bill Murray), an old, grumpy and alcoholic Vietnam veteran who lives alone and gambles regularly and whose only friend is a Russian sex worker named Daka (Naomi Watts). When Maggie Bronstein (Melissa McCarty), a med-tech divorcée, moves to the next-door house with her eleven-year-old son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher), Vicent offers to babysit him for money and he soon turns out to be exactly the mentor Oliver needs as the kid has to deal with his parents' divorce and the new school.

St. Vincent's story is far from being original and follows every single cliché of the genre where you have a grumpy man being softened by a kid in need of a father figure. It's predictable and doesn't have a surprising twist at the end. However, despite these flaws, the story is engaging and interesting to follow, but most of all, it's one of those feel-good stories with a happy ending you are longing for and that successfully manage to put a huge smile on your face as the final credits roll in.

The characters too are stereotypes, from the alcoholic, rude old man who gambles with money that is not his and with no apparent redeeming quality, to the kid who is the walking stereotype of Catholic School life, to the single mother is going through a divorce because her husband cheated on her. But just like with the story, you are willing to overlook these flaws because they also are likeable, sympathetic and they feel real.

The Weinstein Company

And the credits for it entirely go to the cast. Bill Murray is a delight to watch and gives a funny and charming performance in the role of Vincent as he does great with his character's eccentricities while also showing his humanity and big heart. Naomi Watts is quite a show stealer in the role of Daka, the lady of the night, as Vincent calls her; she really fleshes out the character and her Russian accent is pretty good. Melissa McCarty showcases her dramatic talents in the role of the single mother. Chris O'Dowd shines as Brother Geraghty, a teacher in Catholic school, and brings some enjoyable Catholic humour in the film. It's Jaeden Lieberher, however, that completely steals the scene. The young actor is so likeable and sweet it's a joy to watch, and his chemistry with Murray is incredible.

Ultimately, St. Vincent isn't anything new but it's still a touching, funny, sweet and heartwarming feel-good movie with a charming cast.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

I like Melissa McCarthy but saying that her latest films have been nothing but disappointments is an understatement. So when Can You Ever Forgive Me? started to get praised for McCarthy's performance —and Richard E. Grant—, I knew I had to give it a chance. 

The film tells the true story of Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), an author struggling with financial troubles, writer's block and alcoholism. When her cat gets sick and she doesn't have any money for veterinarian care, Israel is forced to sell her possessions, which includes a personal letter Katharine Hepburn wrote to her. When Israel realises how much money she could make with this kind of memorabilia, she begins to forge letters typed up and signed by famous people. 

Based on Israel's memoir, the plot is rather intriguing —it probably isn't if you've seen the trailer as I've heard they spoil everything in there— and, although unevenly —I found the first part to be way more compelling than the second and I almost lost my interest—, it keeps you engaged throughout. 

The most compelling aspect of Can You Ever Forgive Me? easily is the characters and, especially, the performances that come with them. Lee Israel is a very unpleasant woman, she never asks us for any sympathy. A down-on-her-luck writer with a caustic wit and a misaligned moral compass. And yet she is interesting, compelling as Melissa McCarthy gives a stunning performance that turns an odious character into a vulnerable human being with demons to fight, like most of us. McCarthy delivers dry humour and the sadness of this lonely woman who isolated herself from the world. Richard E. Grant also gives a terrific performance and often steals the show from McCarthy. With a character that doesn't have the depth and development of the lead, Grant still manages to leave a mark with his charisma and the wonderful on-screen chemistry he has with McCarthy, which makes the friendship between Israel and her partner in crime, Grant's Jack Hock, very genuine and believable. 

Fox Searchlight Picture

I was not particularly fond of Marielle Heller's direction though. The pacing and tone of the film don't always feel right, and she doesn't seem to care much about Israel as she never tries to make the character more sympathetic. She does a nice job at capturing the shabbiness of 1990s New York, and the music quite fits the film.

Life of the Party (2018)

I really like Melissa McCarthy. She is funny and has pretty good acting skills, which is why, in spite of the low rating on IMDb, I still decided to check out Life of the Party. And it's one of those decisions I immediately regretted. 

The film follows Deanna Miles (Melissa McCarthy), a dedicated housewife who sees her life turned upside down when her husband (Matt Walsh) suddenly dumps her for another woman (Julie Bowen). She never graduated as she dropped out of her last year of college when she got pregnant, so she decides to go back to college, in the same school as her daughter (Molly Gordon), who, of course, is humiliated at the thought of her mother trying to live the college life. 

This would have been a really nice and original idea if it wasn't for the fact that Back to School, which I'm yet to see but whose plot I've read multiple times, has the same exact plot. The only difference is that this time is the mom that is going back to school. There's something worse than lack of originality though, it's the lack of a plot. That's right, Life of the Party has no plot whatsoever and it's tremendously predictable --although there's a twist in the middle that it's impossible to see coming. I'm not even sure it has an ending. 

The characters are just as poorly written. First of all the main character, Deanna. She is this dorky soccer mom at the beginning of the film. I get that she's going through a lot of changes, the divorce, going back to school, but that does not explain why her personality completely vanishes as the movie "moves" forward. I mean, you look away for one second and then she is this shallow woman acting like a college stereotype. The other characters though are probably even worse, especially Deanna's daughter, Maddie, and Maddie's friends. Coherence is probably something Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy --they both wrote this-- are not familiar with. These characters are basically socially awkward nerds, one of them is even afraid of the goth girl who is sharing the room with Deanna. I'm pretty much a socially awkward nerd and I would never, not even in my wildest dreams, go to a super loud and crowded party and/to get drunk. I know that there's this stereotype about college students loving to party and get drunk, but I'm pretty sure it does not apply for the type of persons Maddie and her friends are.

Warner Bros. Pictures

On top of that, Life of the Party is also filled with jokes that rely on the characters finding themselves in pretty awkward situations, and guess what, they just don't work as awkward does not equal funny. I think I laughed two times in total. 

The script is such a mess, there's absolutely nothing the cast can to do save Life of the Party. As I was saying above, Melissa McCarthy is a talented comedian but she needs a good direction to give her best and from what I saw here, her husband, director Ben Falcone, is not capable of giving her that and, as a result, McCarthy's performance is dull and flat. The rest of the cast is also very poor. There are a few exceptions though. Community's Gillian Jacob is pretty awesome as one of Maddie's friends, a girl who woke up after an 8-year coma. Her sarcastic attitude is what keeps the movie "alive". Her character and she deserved to be used better though. Maya Rudolph also stands out as Deanna's best friend.

Ultimately, Life of the Party is the most unfunny comedy I've seen this year so far. It's dull and lifeless, and a tremendous waste of talents, especially if you consider that Jackie Weaver is in this.