Director: Seth Gordon.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho, Robert Patrick, Jon Favreau.
Certificate: 15.
Running Time: 111 minutes.
Synopsis: Family man Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) has his identity stolen by Diana (Melissa McCarthy). In danger of losing his job, he sets out to find and confront Diana, only to find himself forced into the road trip from hell.
IDENTITY THIEF opens as it intends to continue – with Melissa McCarthy dancing around like a loon, puking on a police officer’s hand and generally trying really hard to be funny. That’s right, the magic display of comedic prowess McCarthy displayed in projects such as BRIDESMAIDS is entirely absent in IDENTITY THIEF, a comedy so devoid of laughs that it could almost be mistaken for a boorish drama were it not lumbered with a cast full of seasoned comedians. However, this isn’t so much the fault of McCarthy, who does at least try, but more down to the screenwriters, who clearly didn’t think this one through too much when sitting down to type. Following hapless straight man Sandy as he sets out to bring a fraudster to justice, the film is a sprawling buddy road trip movie that wants desperately to be funny, but for various reasons just can’t seem to raise a smile.
The main problem with the comedy aspect of IDENTITY THIEF is that its subject matter just isn’t funny, nor can it ever be. Identity theft is a real crime that affects many, and in some cases destroys whole lives. Playing it for laughs and attempting to make morally bankrupt characters like Diana sympathetic, endearing or funny is just wrong. It doesn’t help matters either that Diana is extremely repulsive in her attitudes and actions from the get-go, resulting in any form of humour on her part to fall very, very flat. Even towards the end of the film when Diana begins to show signs of redemption, the damage is already done and it’s nigh on impossible to care about her, let alone laugh with her.
Limping from one big comedic set piece to another for most of its running time, IDENTITY THIEF overstays its welcome after the opening scene. Jason Bateman is watchable enough as Sandy, but is stuck once again in the straight man role (or ‘the Jason Bateman role’, as it’s starting to become known), and as such gets very little chance to flex his comedy chops, stepping aside instead for Melissa McCarthy to take centre stage. Again, it’s no fault of the actors, who clearly are trying their best to elevate things to an acceptable level, but with scripting and characters this bad, it’s impossible for anyone here to come out well.
IDENTITY THIEF is released in UK cinemas on March 22nd.
Sam Carey
Mar 19, 2013 at 11:46 am
Glad to see someone else is perturbed as to how identity theft is funny. I realised after seeing the cast that it’s because she’s fat, this makes it funny… apparently.
John Sharp
Mar 19, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Do they make jokes about her being over weight? Or are they jokes which happen to be about a person who is over weight? (if that makes sense…)
Matt Dennis
Mar 19, 2013 at 6:55 pm
There’s jokes about her being short, and some of the physical ‘comedy’ is a result of her weight, but there’s no direct fat jokes. The film is still terrible though.
bfg666
Mar 20, 2013 at 12:12 am
“its subject matter just isn’t funny, nor can it ever be.”
Oh, so I guess Chaplin’s Dictator wasn’t funny because it was inspired by “a real crime that affects many, and in some cases destroys whole lives?”
Charlie
Mar 20, 2013 at 1:10 am
I’m sorry to say, but bfg666 has a point. Much more risque issues have been brought to the comedy genre with just as much success. It’s about the writing and the spin that is put upon the subject. One has to look hard and decide that, yes it has to be acknowledged but also that it has to be taken lightly as well.
We can’t be a doom and gloom society with everyone taking every little thing seriously. ‘A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down’. Some people prefer to laugh at their problems until they go away.
I believe that the movie isn’t funny, don’t get me wrong but not because it’s the subject matters fault.
Comedy these days is about physical comedy and slapstick crudities. People don’t always want to see that. They want intelligence in their writing and that is more than likely what this film lacks.
Sorry to be so negative.
Matt Dennis
Mar 20, 2013 at 11:48 pm
To bfg666 and Charlie, you both make good points. And maybe you’re right. For the record, I love The Great Dictator, and one of my favourite comedies is Four Lions, which is about as risqué as a comedy can get in terms of tackling sensitive real-world issues. And yes, that film is inspired by “a real crime that affects many, and in some cases destroys whole lives”. But at least that film doesn’t make that crime out to be trivial or small, which Identity Thief does for its entire running time.
I think comedy should tackle sensitive issue, otherwise there would never be anything to laugh at ever. But I don’t find this particular subject matter at all amusing (at least not how its handled in this movie, which is lazy to say the least), and I don’t think I ever will. And that’s just my opinion, something I should of perhaps stressed more in the main body of the review.
bfg666
Mar 21, 2013 at 6:19 am
I think we can laugh about anything. Furthermore, the grimmer the topic, the more necessary it is for us humans to exorcise it with laughter. Identity switch or theft has successfully been the subject of numerous comedies in the past (sorry, no title springs to mind).
I haven’t seen this movie yet but after reading this review, I don’t think I will, though I loved Bateman in Arrested Development. I just pointed the finger on what I saw as a mistake on your part, Matt. You seem young and critic is a job that needs some learning.
Matt Dennis
Mar 21, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Practice makes perfect. And good on you for avoiding the film, you’ve made the right choice. Cheers for the comments.
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