Movie Breakdown: Tammy

People are doing traditional-style reviews all over the web, so we decided to try something different.  In each “breakdown” we’ll take a look at what a film’s marketing led us to believe, how the movie actually played, and then what we learned from it all.  Read on!

The Impression:

Melissa McCarthy is funny.

The Reality:

There are three things about Tammy that are very odd.  The first is that it’s really similar to Identity Thief, the movie that Melissa McCarthy did with Jason Bateman last year.  She is practically the same character (bad hair and all), there’s a wacky road trip involved, and it even ends in essentially the exact same way.

The second oddball item is that the film features a never-ending stream of famous faces, and yet none of them ever really do anything or actually matter.  They just show up, say something to sort of help move Tammy to the next plot point, and then they’re gone.  I honestly couldn’t tell if the movie was heavily edited by director Ben Falcone or if it was McCarthy calling in a lot of favors just for the hell of it.

And speaking of McCarthy, she’s the third and most important part of the oddities trifecta – she just really isn’t all that funny in the film.  She’s definitely the heart of Tammy, but the laughs aren’t delivered consistently enough, and I actually walked out of the theater feeling as though the McCarthy-shtick had officially flatlined.

So will you find Tammy to be a total waste of your time and money if you happen to catch it at the theater?  No, but you won’t be overly impressed with it either.

The Lesson:

Melissa McCarthy is sort of funny.