By now, there’s no point kicking this bomb—-which pretty much everyone in the country has already been forewarned about—-and the only thing I can tell you is to keep checking back today for reviews of more recent movies.
What Works: Not much…Susan Sarandon adds an occasional dollop of flash as Tammy’s grandmother, Mark Duplass gives his most appealing performance ever as Tammy’s inexplicable love interest, and the section with Kathy Bates is the most winning. Still, this thing mostly just lies there like a dog with rabies, waiting to be put out of its misery by closing credits.
What Doesn’t: This is apparently a labor-of-love for star Melissa McCarthy, co-wrote by her and her husband (who also directed), and you have to wonder why that is. It’s not a very flattering vehicle for McCarthy—-Tammy is quite possibly the grubbiest and least redeeming character she’s ever played—-so you can’t really call it a vanity project. It doesn’t show us any newfound range or any special skills she hasn’t displayed before, so it’s not like she’s really gunning for Oscar gold. It’s a ramshackle, low-rent comedy with not much redeeming social value, so it’s not like this is a story that desperately needed to be told.
I don’t know, I’m stumped here. Most labor-of-love projects feel like they need to be told, and Tammy is way too low-passion and rambling to approach that. Even McCarthy just sort of goes through the motions and seems to know that this material sucks, she has none of her trademark devilish twinkle (on full display in the best moments of other crud-comedies like Identity Thief or The Heat).
What I Would Have Done Differently: It’s hard to know what made McCarthy and Falcone want to make this movie so badly, so while that remains a mystery it’s hard to say what could have been changed.
I saw the movie. Not sure why. You have hit the nail on the head.