Melissa McCarthy has been providing comedic entertainment in some big time hits in theaters over the past several years. She really started to make herself known in the Paul Feig directed comedy, Bridesmaids (2011). The trend of success continued with The Heat (2013), Spy (2015) and even in the Ghostbusters (2016) remake. The constant that each of these very successful movies had in common, aside from McCarthy, of course, was that Paul Feig was the magical man behind the camera pulling all of the right strings.
Looking at the other side of the coin for a minute, a couple of stinkers that she has starred in were Tammy (2014) and The Boss (2016). Coincidence or not, Paul Feig was NOT the director of either of these box office bombs. As a matter of fact, it was her beloved husband, Ben Falcone. The every-other-year trend continues with McCarthy being the centerpiece of Falcone’s very latest, Life of the Party. The question becomes, will this third time finally be a charm?
Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) is a proud mamma dropping her daugher, Maddie (Molly Gordon), off at college for her final year of studies. In a time that should be filled with tears of happiness is quickly turned into tears of sadness and sorrow. Before they can even leave the campus grounds, Deanna’s husband (Matt Walsh) drops an Earth shattering bomb, he wants a divorce! With her life seemingly spiralling out of control, Deanna does a crazy, unexpected thing. She enrolls in college, the same college that her daughter is now attending. This attempt to search for some newfound self worth will lead the struggling mom on wild journey of self-discovery and as she tries to shake off the bad case of blues.
Just about everything in Life of the Party is wildly predictable, from the beginning to the end. That’s not to say that there aren’t some entertaining moments. Melissa McCarthy plays the same exact type of character that you’ve seen her as in movie after movie after movie. McCarthy swings and misses a lot but she does have a few connections that will have audiences chuckling. On the emotional front, audiences will connect with what’s going on and will most likely buy-in to what director Ben Falcone is selling, which is a PG-13 conservative version of Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School (1986).
Overall, Life of the Party gives a decent nod to moms that sacrifice too much to mention in order to put those that they love first and foremost. It’s probably no coincidence that this movie is being released on Mother’s Day weekend. Unfortunately, just like past McCarthy-Falcone collaborations, this will be another underwhelming box office fizzler. There’s just not enough to grasp on to in order to become fully immersed in what’s being sold. Also, playing it safe by staying on the PG-13 side made for some missed opportunities. It’s very difficult in today’s society to make a comedy about college life but also keep it relatively clean. While better than some of their other offerings (this could have been MUCH worse), this partnership may still be best enjoyed at a matinee or at home.
