Title: Tammy
Director: Ben Falcone
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Allison Janney, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Dan Aykroyd, Kathy Bates.
Not all entertainment couples turn out to have such cinematic chemistry as Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton. Melissa McCarthy is a very talented actress, but under the direction of her husband Ben Falcone – with whom she co-wrote ‘Tammy’s’ script – she rubber-stamps the portrayal of the slovenly buffoon.
The premise isn’t very imaginative. Tammy has a catastrophic day: while driving she hits a deer that damages her car, she gets fired from work and when she returns home she finds her husband having a romantic dinner with another woman. Tammy tries to get her act together, rushes to her folks’ place whining in her mother’s arms. At her parents’ place Tammy will get a proposition from her kooky grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon): hit the road to go see Niagara Falls. Needless to say that the road trip will be enlightening in very predictable ways for both characters.
But Susan Sarandon playing granny isn’t too believable. The ‘Thelma & Louise,’ star is back on the road with great charisma and beauty. A few grey hairs and some poorly designed varicose veins can’t age her enough, nor can she save a badly written character. This applies to the entire ensemble of characters populating the film: Kathy Bates (Lenore) and Sandra Oh (Susanne) play the lesbian couple very well, but Lenore’s obsession with blowing things up is neither amusing nor shocking. Dan Aykroyd, Toni Collette and Allison Janney also seem star-additions that are supposed to elevate a very feeble movie.
The intention of empathising or feeling sorry for Tammy fails: the pastiche of assembled lame sketch-comedy morsels is cataclysmic.
Technical: C+
Acting: C
Story: C-
Overall: C
Written by: Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
