Identity Theft

First Hit:  A general waste of time, not funny and does little to bring to light the prevalent issue of identity theft.

This film has an identity problem. It tries to be funny, point out the issue of identity theft, and tries to be heartwarming or meaningful. It is none of these.

Watching Diana (Melissa McCarthy) is like watching a train wreck, you know it’s going to happen, you know it will be catastrophic, and the only thing left is a mess. I’ve yet to see McCarthy be in anything interesting, intelligent or of value. She appears to specialize in uncultivated actions of an overweight person trying to fit in, be funny or the center of attention. Sandy Peterson (Jason Bateman) does his best to hold the film together but this is a match made hell.

The presentation of the subject and story is rarely interesting and mostly just grossly reaching for laughs.

McCarthy is horrible in this character and it there was nothing about her character that would make the audience be interested in her. The attempts to have Sandy’s kids like her were grossly obvious ploys to have us care about the character – too little too late. Bateman tried his best and did the best he could with the script, direction, and McCarthy. The moments he spends and communicates with his kids and wife Trish (Amanda Peet) are good and are the only things good in this film. Peet, in a minor role, was OK. Craig Mazin wrote a poorly conceived script. Seth Gordon tried to make the story interesting but the script, McCarthy, and idea were guaranteed to make this film fail.

Overall:  Not worth more than 5 minutes of anyone’s time.

Horrible Bosses

First Hit:  Uneven film from the beginning but in the end it came together enough to be enjoyable.

Nick Hendricks (played by Jason Bateman) works in a large corporation for Dave Harkin (played by Kevin Spacey) who is the perfect ultimate jerk of a boss.

He lies about Nick, takes advantage of his work ethic, and is vindictive. Dale Arbus (played by Charlie Day) who only wants to be married to his fiancé works as a dental assistant for Dr. Julia Harris D.D.S. (played by Jennifer Aniston) who is a very horny dentist and spends most of her time trying to persuade Dale to screw her at work while the patients are under anesthesia. Kurt Buckman (played by Jason Sudeikis) is a top account manager for a local company. He works for Jack Pellit (played by Donald Sutherland) who admires Kurt, but Jack dies and his son Bobby (played by Colin Farrell) is anointed to run the company.

Bobby is self-obsessive and a cocaine and sex addict. He begins to make Kurt’s life miserable. The three are friends and during one of their nights out they hatch a plan to kill their bosses. Of course they know nothing about it and end up seeking advice from Dean “MF” Jones (played by Jamie Foxx).

After the introduction of these characters and their reasons why they want their bosses dead, the film falls into series of bits, some funny some not.

Eventually the film finds its story and legs and comes home in a reasonably satisfying way.

Bateman is the settling energy and most reasonable person in this film. He’s also funny. Spacy is, for me, the scene stealer. When he’s on the screen he’s definitely worth watching. Day is at his best when he accidentally inhales a bunch of cocaine he’s cleaning up. Aniston is playing a role very unlike her normal roles and she is a hoot to watch. Sudeikis is suave as a guy who is not necessarily handsome but smooth enough to get almost anyone to have sex with him. Farrell is almost non-recognizable but his abilities to express are all Farrell. Fox is wonderfully intense and funny to watch as the professional murder consultant. Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan M. Goldstein wrote this script and for the most part it felt like a bunch of un-integrated bits. Seth Gordon directed the film but seemed lost after the strong beginning, but was able to bring it home well enough.

Overall: Although this film was lost much of the time, it did come together at the end to make the sit worthwhile.