Review: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

-
Do you like cats better than people?

Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) is an author that normally writes biographies. When they stop selling, she's short on her rent, her cat is sick, her life is a mess and she's desperate. When she comes across a letter written by a famous writer by chance, she begins forging  letters by famous people and selling them off with the help of her new friend, Jack. (Richard E. Grant)

I wasn't familiar with Lee Israel prior to seeing this. This was a story I hadn't heard, and despite being about a crime, it wasn't very compelling. I had a hard time connecting with Lee and Jack. This calls back a bit to what I was talking about in my Wildlife review, another film following objectively unlikable people. It's easy to enjoy a film about unlikable people when the ones you're watching are so well defined. It's almost extraordinary how this film manages to miss that when Lee and Jack are real people. 

I think this movie is paced very well, but I was left wanting more context. I felt like I was given the bare minimum of information on the characters in this film. It's like I was watching a Spark Notes version. The script just leaves so much more to be desired.

Melissa McCarthy gives probably her best performance as Lee. If you've been reading me for a while, you know I'm not a fan of hers outside of Spy but I think her fans will absolutely adore this. Richard E. Grant is clearly having a lot of fun in this role as well. I can see why he's getting a lot of Oscar talk, even though I don't think it's the best supporting performance I've seen. The two together have great chemistry and some of their dialogue was fantastic.

Obviously I'm pretty lukewarm on this. If you're a big McCarthy fan, you'll probably love it. Director Marielle Heller's style is definitely all over this film as well, it feels a lot like her last feature, Diary of a Teenage Girl. 

Recommended: No

Grade: C

Memorable Quote: "How are you going to taste it with his dick in your mouth?" - Lee (Melissa McCarthy)


Comments

  1. BirgitDecember 10, 2018 at 11:35 AM

    The quote is hilarious. I love this actress so I might enjoy the film but the writing has to be good as well. It sounds like a film with good acting but the script let them down

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 10, 2018 at 6:30 PM

      That quote comes early on the film too, it kind of caught me by surprise. It was good one.

      Delete
  2. Alex WithrowDecember 10, 2018 at 12:42 PM

    Fully agree here. Decent movie, but it felt like we were deprived of a lot. This movie felt like an acting vehicle for McCarthy and Grant above all else, and they both seized it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 10, 2018 at 6:29 PM

      Agreed. I feel like that recent SNL sketch with Claire Foy - "I'm positively STARVED for context!"

      Delete
  3. thevoid99December 10, 2018 at 2:21 PM

    I might want to see this as I do like Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant as well as being a fan of Diary of a Teenage Girl. I'll check it out when it's on DVD.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 10, 2018 at 6:28 PM

      I normally don't spot director techniques as easily as others do, so I was surprised while I was sitting through this that I actually thought "I wonder if this is the same person who did Diary of a Teenage Girl" That never happens to me. lol

      Delete
  4. s.December 11, 2018 at 2:22 AM

    I love Melissa so I am sure I will like it it Will be nice to finally see her in decent movie this year

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 11, 2018 at 6:50 AM

      It's nice that they reel her in from that slapstick comedy she gets stuck with so often.

      Delete
  5. KatyDecember 16, 2018 at 2:01 PM

    Nice review! I thought this would be a fun movie to see, but not necessarily in a rush to see it. Nice that they both seem to give good performances.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 16, 2018 at 7:31 PM

      It makes for an alright matinee for those reasons. lol

      Delete
  6. DanielDecember 20, 2018 at 3:20 PM

    AW - I enjoyed this a lot more than you, but still agree that it was missing something. I thought McCarthy was excellent and the chemistry between her and Richard E. Grant was fantastic. I particularly loved how they were able to capture NYC in the '90s almost completely without any cultural signifiers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 20, 2018 at 6:59 PM

      They did have good chemistry together. I actually really liked that "I hate the urge to trip you just there" scene between them, that was really nice. I kind of softened on this a bit since writing it lol.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more