Identity Thief

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Identity Thief
Released 2/8/13, now in theaters

Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman are a wacky, mismatched pair in Identity Thief, a buddy-road comedy opening this weekend.  The film is directed by Seth Gordon who directed 2011's Horrible Bosses.  Jon Favreau, Amanda Peet, T.I., Genesis Rodriguez, Morris Chestnut, Robert Patrick, John Cho, and Eric Stonestreet co-star.

Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Bateman) is a low level employee at a leading Denver financial institution.  He has a wife (Peet), two young daughters, and another child on the way.  He hates his arrogant boss (Favreau) and jumps at the chance when his friend, Danny (Cho), and a group of other disgruntled employees at the firm jump ship to form their own company and allow him to make real money for the first time in his life.  There's a problem, however.  Sandy is the victim of a credit card scam perpetrated by a con artist the audience comes to know as Diana (McCarthy).  Diana has racked up quite a bill in Sandy's name to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.  She has warrants out for her in Sandy's name, as well, which lands him in hot water with the authorities and his new job. 

Since it will take too long for the authorities to undo the damage Diana has done and his job depends on him having a clean record, Sandy decides to travel to Florida to bring the thief back to Denver himself.  He's in for more than he bargained for when he finally tracks down the tacky "Queen of Retail" as he has to endure a number of physical confrontations with Diana (usually ending with him receiving a throat punch), a crazed skip tracer (Patrick) who needs to bring "Sandy" in for missing a court date, and two hired thugs (T.I. and Rodriguez) who are tracking "Sandy" for their jailed mob boss who she has defrauded as well.  Since Diana has no where to turn and Sandy lies to her about not having to face the police if she comes back to Denver with him, sticking with her dupe seem like the best option.  Whether they get to Colorado in one piece or without killing each other is another matter.

Identity Thief is one of those movies where the appeal is completely about its star power.  McCarthy and Bateman both deliver great performances in what is an otherwise standard road comedy.  Bateman and Paul Rudd might be the best comedic straight men working today.  I do think Bateman does deadpan the best, however.

The true standout here though is McCarthy.  This lady is just plain funny without half trying.  Whether it's situational or physical comedy, there just isn't any form of the medium where she doesn't shine.  And she also has an opportunity to show off some dramatic acting chops in Identity Thief.  She is more than up to the task in the film's primary dramatic moment as she talks about her sad past showing an emotion and vulnerability that many actresses couldn't pull off.  This along with a couple of key moments when she is mocked for her appearance and you see the hurt in her face makes you feel sympathy for a character who is essentially a liar and thief.   McCarthy has real talent and range as an actress that I hope continues to be tapped.

Identity Thief is a funny movie if not a completely hilarious side-splitting one. Again, the strength of the two leads is what drives it.  It's worth a look.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

***1/2 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee. Buy this on DVD when released!
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.