Tammy

Tonight I saw Tammy, starring Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon.

Tammy (McCarthy) is a mess of a woman—both physically and mentally. She's lost her husband, her job and her car all in the course of one day. This trauma causes her to go of the rails and seek escape. The trouble is, the only way she can get out of town is to use the car owned by her grandmother Pearl (Sarandon), and that comes with strings attached: Pearl wants to come along for the ride.

And so it goes, the cliché road trip begins.

I adore both of these ladies, I really do, but their talent is wasted here. After a series of mistakes and hints that these two family members have a more serious past than the tone would imply, some not-so-fun things start to happen.

Thank God Mark Duplass arrives to save the day!

He plays Bobby, the most normal, sane person in the story. He meets Tammy at a bar where his father is shamelessly pursuing her grandmother. Tammy embarrasses herself going after Bobby and then they both bond over embarrassment. It's as if the screenplay said "Just kidding! This is really a heartfelt drama," and picked up in the middle of a different film.

Unfortunately, I liked that other film better.

Duplass and McCarthy have a lovely chemistry, but they barely get enough screen time to explore it. Every time he appeared on camera I'd breathe a sigh of relief and then before I knew it he'd be gone.

Also refreshing are Sandra Oh and Kathy Bates as a wealthy lesbian couple who throws a lavish party that the misfits attend. And I would be remiss to mention Dan Akroyd and Allison Janney who play Tammy's parents. Of course, they're awesome.

McCarthy will always succeed in getting a laugh out of me, but here it feels as if she's trying too hard.

~~~