Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Gregory Korostishevsky, Jane Curtin, Stephen Spinella, Christian Navarro, Pun Bandhu, Erik Laray Harvey, Brandon Scott Jones, Shae D’lyn | Written by Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty | Directed by Marielle Heller

Directed by rising star Marielle Heller, her latest offering comes after the 2015 breakout comedic hit film The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Heller turns her attention from a coming of age story to the more overly serious and tonally mature, yet comedically balanced drama, Can You Ever Forgive Me? A film that inhabits a truly outstanding and splendid array of performances. Specifically, that of leading actress Melissa McCarthy, of Bridesmaids and Life of the Party fame, who is terrific and exceptional as subject Lee Israel – fully deserving to be recognised in this year’s awards season with an astonishing dramatic turn.

Heller’s film follows a delightfully simplistic and jaunty template...