Review: Tammy

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★

There's no denying that Melissa McCarthy's star power is enormously high at the point in her career. With her breakout role in "Bridesmaids" followed by commercially successful films such as "Identify Thief" and "The Heat," there's no question that audiences love seeing her even though she's never really developed her characters. "Tammy" marks her big screen writing debut, a screenplay she wrote with her husband - and the film's director - Ben Falcone. The problem here is that "Tammy" shows Melissa McCarthy doing what Melissa McCarthy has done before. She has yet to step out of her comfort zone and try a different character.

McCarthy stars as the title character Tammy. I’m not sure if her character is supposed to be stupid or if that’s just the way McCarthy is playing it. Either way, she doesn’t come across as very bright. She loses her job at a fast food restaurant and then learns that her husband Greg (Nat Faxon) has been carrying on with the neighbor Missi (Toni Collette). Tammy leaves and goes to her mom Deb’s (Allison Janney) home. There, she announces she getting out of town and needs to borrow her grandma’s car to do so.

Tammy’s grandmother is Pearl (Susan Sarandon), a profane woman with a very big drinking problem. Tammy isn’t thrilled about this, but Pearl has money so she goes along with it. They decide to go to Niagara Falls.  They must not know their geography too well because they end up in Louisville after starting out somewhere in Illinois. They end up at a bar where they meet Earl (Gary Cole), an old alcoholic farmer who falls all over Pearl, and his son Bobby (Mark Duplass) who Tammy likes. A lot of friction between Pearl and Tammy continues to build, mostly thanks to how she treats Tammy after she’s been drinking. There’s a lot of bad history between these two that is boiling beneath the surface and needs to be resolved.

The problem with “Tammy” is it never really tells you much about that history. A few think come to light, but are quickly cast aside in favor of more McCarthy slapstick humor. I never really understood whom I was supposed to be rooting for. Pearl isn’t all that unlikable until the plot demands her to be. She and Tammy seem to get along fine; they’re just an odd couple. Nothing ever really feels at risk. A definitive conflict is never fully developed.

The only reason for this film’s existence is for McCarthy to get onto movie theater screens and do her thing for the second summer in a row. I’m not saying she’s not funny, nor am I saying the movie isn’t either. The film itself lacks a compelling and fully developed story. McCarthy fans will find connection because she is a funny actress. But the best moments in this film don’t come from her at all. The scenes featuring Kathy Bates (with Sandra Oh playing her girlfriend) are the best in the movie.

Other good moments come between McCarthy and Mark Duplass. Duplass’s Bobby is probably the most developed of all the characters in this film. That doesn’t really surprise me since Duplass is already an accomplished actor/writer/director in his own right. I liked the interaction between him and McCarthy. This provides some rooting interest for Tammy. These are also the scenes where McCarthy leaves her shtick behind and shows a small amount of the acting range she’s capable of achieving.

But honestly, who is going to see “Tammy” looking for McCarthy’s dramatic acting ability? It’s one funny McCarthy moment after the next. The shaky plotline I cannot forgive though. “Bridesmaids” and “The Heat” worked well for her because the story was solid and the film was well written. I think they might also work because McCarthy was the supporting role in those films. We’ll see if audience flock to see “Tammy” like they did with her other films. It might be people don’t think of McCarthy as a leading role. Time will tell on that hypothesis.

For now, “Tammy” is a film for fans of Melissa McCarthy’s unique brand of comedy. Those looking for the next big R-rated summer comedy should probably look elsewhere. Nothing here but the same-old-same-old from a funny actress.

Review: The Heat

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★★

Its been way too long since we’ve had a good buddy cop movie. The “Lethal Weapon” series was great, and I – for one – miss those movies. We need another one, but that is unlikely to happen. Several different movies have tried to follow this formula, and most have failed. When I first saw the trailers for “The Heat” back in January (when it was originally slated to be released in April), I rolled my eyes and thought I knew exactly how this movie was going to play out. Knowing the formula to buddy cop movies, I was correct that I knew how it begin and end. Where I was wrong was just how good “The Heat” would actually be.

Sandra Bullock plays FBI Special Agent Sarah Asburn, a by the book agent who none of her colleagues like. She’s arrogant and a showoff. Suddenly, there’s a supervisor position open in her office that she thinks is right for her. Her boss Agent Hale (Demian Bichir) isn’t so sure since people despise her so much. She assigns her a case in Boston. If she can solve it, they’ll talk about the promotion.

Asburn is off to Boston where she meets up with Agent Levy (Marlon Wayans) who refers her to the local police department to look into some additional information. There, she meets Detective Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). Mullins is quite the opposite of Asburn. Whereas Asburn is very by the books and follows all the teachings from the Academy, Mullins just wings it. She uses her brash personality to intimidate everyone she meets.

Asburn can’t work with Mullins; she’s the Oscar to her Felix. She tries to get Hale to force her out of the investigation, but Hale thinks Mullins can be a valued asset to the Bureau. She disagrees, but Hale insists that her willingness to work with a local cop will look really good when she tries to apply for the promotion.

The rest of “The Heat” follows that basic blueprint of a typical buddy-cop film like the “Lethal Weapon” movies. Even though it follows this formula, it doesn’t feel very generic; it feels like a true original, something that is completely lacking in the current studio system.

Director Paul Fieg is very familiar with getting great comedic performances out his talent. He’s a seasoned television director, having directed multiple episodes of “Arrested Development”, “Nurse Jackie” and “The Office” in addition to creating the cult-hit show “Freaks & Geeks”. He’s also responsible for one of the best all-around comedies in recent years, “Bridesmaids” (where he directed McCarthy to her first Oscar nomination).

With “The Heat”, Fieg continues to polish his skills as one of the finest comedic talents behind the camera. He’s able to bring out great performances by his two leading actresses. Both have come from different types of comedy backgrounds, and they’ve been molded to fit exactly what the script has required them to be. Bullock and McCarthy weren’t just cast because they’re box office draws; they were cast because they were the two best actresses out there that could have pulled these rolls off.

“The Heat” is the first screenplay by writer Katie Dippold, a former staff writer for “MADtv” and current writer for “Parks and Recreation”. Her first attempt at writing a feature film is a great success. It is full of joke after joke. I probably missed half of them because everyone was laughing so hard that the follow up lines were drowned out by laughter. And its not just slapstick humor. There are plenty of jokes related to the situation, and everything is derived right from the plot.

Her two main characters are two people we actually like because they’re real. Each comes with several layers of different back-story, which allows us to develop empathy toward them. Empathy is why Riggs and Murtaugh in “Lethal Weapon” are so easy to root for. Character depth is severely lacking in most Hollywood films these days (they sure don’t make ‘em like they used to), but Dippold has turned that problem right around. Asburn and Mullins are not only interesting characters, they’re exciting and easy to cheer for.

There are a few gaping plot holes present that I’m surprised got through to the finished product. A seasoned television writer like Dippold should have caught some of them. Giving them away would mean to give away some spoilers, so I won’t be doing that. The final act of the film felt rushed. The first and second acts were built so well, but they appear to have frantically raced to resolve the main plot points before the picture hit the two-hour mark. This leaves subplots unresolved, something I cannot stand.

But gripes aside, there won’t be a funnier movie this summer than “The Heat”. I was very skeptical going in to this film after seeing the trailer for several months. It looked like “Miss Congeniality” trying to solve crimes with the “Identify Thief”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There is so much to like about this film. Its crude and vulgar with two hours of non-stop laughs. I really hope that this is the start of new, much needed series of buddy cop films.