We start off with a gullible idiot and a thief, but by the end of this slapstick movie we have two good friends brought together by a series of increasingly bizarre events.
With a director whose back catalogue includes Horrible Bosses and a producer credit for Ted there’s no surprises on offer here from Seth Gordon. It may be a bit cringey at times but overall Identity Thief is a good collection of belly laughs.
The film tells the story of Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) an average, down on his luck family man who works as an accountant for a major firm. He leads a normal, uneventful life. One day he gets a call that his identity has been stolen but if he issues the bank with some information they can deal with it. The unbelievably naive Sandy gives them everything they need. The woman turns out to be Diana (Melissa McCarthy) who, as the title suggests, is an expert identity thief.
Sandy’s life changes as Diana drains his accounts, puts him in debt and jeopardises his fancy new job. The police are unable to help so Sandy decides to go to Denver where she was last seen and retrieve her to set the record straight.
He does not anticipate the chain of events that will follow.
Identity Thief is like a cocktail of comedy; a real ‘buddies on the road where everything goes wrong’ kind of film with a bit of crime added to the mix.
Melissa McCarthy, who is known for her roles in Bridesmaids as well as TV series Mike and Molly, is the gem of this production. I will never be able to get the image of her singing ‘Milkshake’ by Kelis in tight, patterned leggings and a hideous cotton shirt out of my head.
You really do laugh your heart out at almost everything she does and says, even if it’s not that funny. Her facial expressions are priceless and she really does steal the show.
It did have some flaws though. The story line was a bit unbelievable at times and the pace of the film dragged on a bit. The situations in which someone was shot or driven over or whacked in the head with a blunt object and managed to survive happen just a bit too frequently. You find yourself thinking ‘Come on! She should be dead!’
To be perfectly honest if it wasn’t for Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman this would be a very average production, but they manage to play around the poor surroundings and secondary cast and make it their own.
It’s the kind of film where you have to sit back, relax and enjoy the show, because there is absolutely no point in taking it seriously.
Rating 4/5
Zofia Domaracka
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