For those of us who can’t afford to go to the movies, or just chose not to because of how expensive it is, I have decided to review the films that are On Demand (Verizon Fios is my provider) for the readers of Hashtag Studios. That way, when you sit down at home and order a movie, you know what you’re paying for.
A few days ago, I watched Identity Thief. I am both a big Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman fan so I was excited to see this movie.
Identity Theif is about a man named Sandy Patterson who is conned by a woman named Diana (you never get her full name). She maxes out his credit cards and it turns out is also involved in drug dealing. Sandy is mistaken for her and is arrested once, released, and then almost arrested again. During the second time, he is about to lose his job until he strikes a deal with the police and his boss. He decides to go find this woman on his own. He tells Diana that he needs her to confess to her crimes in front of his boss so he doesn’t lose his job. He promises her no police when in actuality they will be listening in another room. This results in a dangerous road trip.
On TV Melissa McCarthy has very interesting and likeable characters (Mike and Molly and The Gilmore Girls). But in movies she always plays unattractive characters which I find frustrating. In Bridesmaids she was the unattractive, macho, somewhat disgusting female character, in Identity Thief, she was a criminal who had no friends, in This is 40, she was the unreasonable, finger-pointing mother, and in the upcoming movie The Heat, opposite Sandra Bullock, she seems to be unlikeable as well (because I have not seen this movie, this is just speculation).
Another issue I had with the film was how unbelievably understanding Sandy’s wife was. We find out that Sandy and his wife Trish (Amanda Peet) are having financial problems, have two children to feed, and another on the way. When Sandy tells Trish that he has quit his job without letting her know, she jumps up in excitement that he has made a spir-of-the-moment decision. Then when he tells her of his plan to chase down the con-artist, drug dealer that is posing as him without any cops or any kind of assistance she tells him to have fun. While he is gone, the two are not working and aren’t bringing in any income to pay any bills.
Finally, the film was a classic Hollywood cliché. It turns into a road trip during which, surprise, surprise, the two develop a friendship.