Alondro, I'm not defending this movie because it isn't great, but I just wanted to make sure that you are aware that Melissa McCarthy was never an SNL cast member and any stand up she did was rather short lived. She mostly got her start at The Groundlings which is highly improvisational and requires a lot of mental sharpness and skill as a performer. I think MM is able to great rich characters, but the stories that they are put in are formulaic and uninteresting. It is my belief that she is much like Chris Farley in that she feels the need to make fun of herself and is struggling to get out from under that pressure, whether it is real or not. I think she, and her movies, would be much better off if they used fewer sight gags and less physical comedy, then her talent would really shine. IMHO.
reply
share
Alondro
9 years ago
Perhaps, perhaps.
But improve doesn't translate into film very well unless you're a MASTER of improve like Robin Williams, whose spontaneous outbursts often became integral parts of his best works.
I completely agree she needs to work with better material.
Self-deprecation is only funny when it's set up with a bit of character pathos. Charlie Chaplin knew how to do that. Audiences felt sympathy for the bumbling little tramp and hoped that he'd have a happy ending, despite laughing at all his antics.
In this movie, we all want to see The Boss take a massive beating... throughout the entire film. It's unrelenting unpleasantness.
reply
share