Identity Thief (2013)

The film starts out fairly decent as Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) has his identity stolen by a likeable, playful Diana (Melissa McCarthy- Bridesmaid). We see Sandy's life come apart from the incident as it seems no one in Colorado understands identity theft. Sandy is forced to act on his own as he goes to Florida to ask Diana to please return to Colorado with him to explain to his wife and boss how he can not be in Florida and Colorado at the same time.Now at this point the film becomes improbable as our duo transverse the county being pursued by the bad guys in a comedy that falls flat as the film takes on aspects of "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" minus the humor. Melissa McCarthy gives us a good performance for a tired script. Cheap rental only.Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex. No nudity-thank you Melissa for drawing the line.

While this film came out in 2013, I just saw it in 2018 so yeah, I am really late to the game. This film had some great things going for it. For example, I loved the plot. It was a really cute storyline. It also had fabulous acting in Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman. What I did not like about this film was all the unnecessary "F" bombs and a handful of sexual innuendoes. Literally, there was no need for them but I am a big girl and have heard it many times before. The only thing that just about made me turn it off was the taking of the Lord's name in vain. As a Christian, this is so hard for me to swallow. There is absolutely never a good reason to take the Lord's name in vain, especially in a film. I cringed every time I heard it and think I heard it about three times. But it was three times too many. However, because I had wanted to see this film for so long, and because I bought it on DVD, I decided to see it through. At about the 45 minute mark the two leads are in a bar and Melissa McCarthy's character began to act inappropriately. The next thing I know there is a motel scene in which she brings another man into the room and there is a disgusting sex scene. It was absolutely horrible & vulgar and I could not wait until the scene was over. But once I got through the first hour, the film took a turn for the better. The "F" bombs still flew, but the story began to turn and I could tell this character "Diana" was not as bad as she seemed. The film had great production value and great DP work. The editing was also top notch. But what I liked most was the acting from Jason and Melissa as well as the plot. By the last five minutes of this film, I knew I was going to cry, and when a movie makes me cry it is a winner in my book. I love for my emotions to be stirred. Because I am a Christian, someone told me I would absolutely hate this film, but I had already purchased the DVD, so I thought I would see it through. He asked me why I didn't read the reviews and the parental warnings before I bought it. Honestly, I had never thought of it. I watched the trailer and was hooked and wanted to see it because it looked very funny. My friend was wrong, I didn't hate it. While I didn't like the a lot of the dialogue in the script, I loved the story and the chemistry between Jason and Melissa was fantastic. Next up, I'll be watching "Tammy" which also stars Melissa McCarthy. There must be a reason why she is rated 27 on IMDb right now.

This movie is... um... Okay. Some laughs, but many more smiles . It's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" in 2nd gear. Jason Bateman is the Steve Martin clone. There are some scenes that rip off the F-bomb counter scene. Melissa McCarthy is John Candy in drag. Her character is more ruthless, but she plays the likable unlikable.

**** May contain strong spoilers ****This is a review made by StoneDraim... and that means that if you want to read a probably different kind of review, keep reading....This is my personal experience, my personal point of view/perspective and my personal opinion... and my opinion is just one of like 7 billions in this world.Starting off like a typical naive comedy that thrust on every aspect of prejudice and preconceptions. Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Jason Bateman) is filling the role very good and is solid in his performance. It is really sad that the actress MElissa McCarthy has been settled in a box with only similar roles, attending the high preconceptions on a big lady with extreme low self esteem. At the end of the beginning of the movie I was surprised in a really good way. Mr. Patterson, his new boss Daniel Casey (John Cho) and the detective Reilly (Morris Chestnut) is having a discussion about the identity theft. Instead of playing along with other movies and following the typical script (that have been written SOOO many times), the script is suddenly taken a way that is close to reality. A little trust from the boss, a little approval from the police officers. It could have gone in the direction where "all is chaos and a mish mash off misunderstandings and so on"... and it takes the other road to close up to reality. Great and fresh! And...behold; some minutes later it strolls right into the formulaic road trip movie show. Seen it before.I adore Jason Bateman as an actor. I love his subtle easy going and balanced person in his characters. He could have been directed better in this one. Jason can deliver world class if pushed. I got to love him with the movie "Moving Target" (look it up).Over to the movie as a product: - The production : Normal American standard speaking of the entire production. - The actors : Melissa McCarthy is giving some emotional scenes which gives her more than "good work" as a rate; she has something great going on there. Jason Bateman and the rest of the cast is giving the story an ordinary performance. - The story : Could have been much better... a lot better. They had something good as a foundation, and then let it slip through their hands. - Entertainment : Some good moments and pleasure. Most of the time plain and simple "oh, they do this and that again... seen it a lot before". - Age : 115,8 out of 10. (The final rate is based most on my own entertainment of the movie. Short elucidation of the rating: 6 Nice production. Good movie. 5 Approved.)