I've been a huge supporter of comedic actress Melissa McCarthy so far, but this may be the break. I'll probably give her more chances, but this one's a bit of a flop. It's mostly due to the script, but it was written by McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone (who also directed). They really needed some help with their script. Frankly, the movie is largely plot less, never getting its story off the ground, and, worst of all, it's laughless. Identity Thief had a pretty awful script, too, but at least it brought the funny. The biggest problem here is that the story, as they have written it, should have been a dramedy. Instead, McCarthy and Falcone are not brave enough to embrace the dramatic aspects of the script. They're dead-set on making a stupid, slapstick, R-rated comedy, and they aren't going to let the audience feel any genuine emotion. Tammy begins with the protagonist (McCarthy) getting fired from her crappy, fast-food job only to go home and find her husband cheating on her. She walks a few houses down to her mom's house, swearing she's going to just leave. Her alcoholic grandmother (Susan Sarandon) is sick of it at her daughter's house, too, so she decides to bankroll the operation. This movie would suck a whole lot more without Sarandon. She's actually quite excellent, and has some complexities (she's a major alcoholic, for one). What this movie needed to be about was the two of these people bonding. It has a certain charm when the two women are interacting. The problem is, neither of them is given enough background to characterize them. Every time they seem to be getting somewhere with either of the characters, like I said before, it feels like they get too afraid the audience might start to feel an emotion so they have Melissa McCarthy crash her jetski or something. And, again, like I said before, some of this crappiness in the script could have been alleviated if the film were just ever funny. There's one sequence, where McCarthy has to rob a fast food restaurant, which provides some laughs, but the entire sequence was played in the trailer. Since it was the only really funny sequence, I can't blame them. McCarthy's brazenness was funny in her last two movies, but she kind of cranks the obnoxiousness up to eleven, particularly near the beginning. Oh, and then there's the love interest, Mark Duplass. Man, are they ever unsure that they should allow him to have a romantic relationship with the overweight protagonist. Duplass himself always has a look on his face which says, "This is to fund my next mumblecore project," and the character only seems to exist to stand there and tell McCarthy that she's okay. He's very much equivalent to the personality-less, female love interests in every other movie that's been released this summer, except they seem to not be able to bring themselves to let the two form a romantic relationship on screen.
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zetes6 July 2014
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After Tammy had a bad day combo of getting fired and caught her husband cheating, she goes to take a runaway trip. But since she lacks money and a car, she urges to borrow them from her grandma Pearl, who then insisted that she joins Tammy. The pair gets crazy on their trip, purchasing a broken jet ski in process, while from time to time Pearl reminisce about her past stories and tell them to Tammy. The catch of the trip for Tammy is that Pearl is secretly a heavy alcoholic, and lustful, despite her obvious danger from diabetes. One night at a bar the pair meet father and son Earl and Bobby. Pearl and Earl hooks right up, leaving Tammy alone outside for the night. The next morning Tammy gets infuriated and leaves Pearl while she gets drunk. When Tammy returns to her, they get arrested due to disturbing public peace. Pearl bails Tammy out.
That night, feeling guilty, Tammy resorts to robbing a branch of Topper Jack, a fast food brand where she was employed. It turns out that Pearl had contacted Earl to bail her out. So the next day Pearl and Tammy returns the robbed money. Pearl then contacts her friends Lenore and Susanne. Lenore then ditches the car Tammy and pearl uses to cover tracks of the robbery, but they bring the jet ski. Eventually they give a "Viking funeral" to the jet ski at a night party at Lenore's. The next day the police come due to the neighbors complaining about a burning jet ski. That's when they made it about Tammy. Afetr some time Tammy gets out of jail. When she gets home, her mother tells her that they put Pearl in a retirement home. Angered, Tammy rushes to the home trying to free Pearl. To Tammy's surprise Pearl is happy where she is. But they still go to Niagara Falls, the original destination of their trip.
The story is actually based on a quite uncommon premise of having a runaway trip after going through a low point in life. The movie doesn't really develop the entire story suitably. It feels like there are some things missing here and there. The pace is not well set, where, starting from the deer crash, we have the first twenty to thirty minutes in a rather fast pace. Yet it slows down, starting about the conversation in front of the eagle, and stays that way for a long duration. And after that, the pace doesn't really recover. It makes the mood of the movie feels rather awkward.
The jokes feels rather off because there are many great laughs from the dialog, but there is little to none of rather physical or practical joke. Well, compared to the last time I saw Melissa McCarthy in The Heat (2013), Tammy (2014) has way less of those crazy practical jokes. I bring this up because I do think there are many spots which are capable to be filled with some practical laughs here and there.
The acting is a so-so job in overall. McCarthy still did her loud, raunchy and wild character as she almost always do. Susan Sarandon provides some extra laughs, especially on the scenes of Pearl and Earl. Kathy Bates gives an adequate supporting cast acting as well as Gary Cole and Mark Duplass.
My final say that Tammy is only worth a 5 out of 10 score. Although it is a good laugh most of the time, and it can be a good entertainment, but it definitely can't be included in the family movie category due to the harsh language. Also the unstable pave building makes this movie loses it. -
Tammy felt like a Saturday Night Live skit stretched out to 90 minutes. In fact, Melissa Mccarthy was like a female Chris Farley and she even hit a deer in the first scene like the deer scene in Tommy Boy. Her character was of two notes: Angry or sad. At least I used a free movie ticket.
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trishmink0220-297-12480028 November 2014Frankly Melissa is laughing all the way to the bank. I thought the movie was funny in places poignant in others. I would see it again easily. With all the phony, pretentious movie making, this to me just looked like fun. Fun to watch and I bet it was fun to make.
Tammy starts out a minimum wage, screw up. I have seen Adam Sandler do comedy in the same vein. He is brilliant at it and so is she. Then it progresses and deals with a woman who is forced to face her issues and grow up. So there was a recovery sense to it, and for the drunken Susan Sarandon too. It was very funny and human. I love Kathy Bates, and was happy to see her in it also.
So don't watch if you don't want to, but I loved it. I giggled and felt for a lost person, who starts to gain insight. All of the negative reviews really are people's opinion. Mine is I loved it!! Also it cost 2om to make and grossed 84m. She got a cut, so I am sure she loved it too...
Take your negativity elsewhere, I would watch anything she did. -
drhall1238 July 2014A great cast could not overcome a dull script. Random, ill developed characters popping in and out of a storyline that was all over the place. If we laughed more than a couple of times I'd be surprised. I guess you could call it a drama-dy but it fails at either. A silent theater during a Melissa McCarthy comedy? Say it ain't so! Oh wait...we did laugh .... At my husband groaning about how awful it was. Sad because I was looking forward to this one. I give it 2 rather than 1 just because it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but I would advise waiting for an out of theater option if you feel you must see this because you love Melissa. It's pretty disappointing.
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AlienOscillator5 July 2014I can usually find some redeeming qualities in most if not all movies... not so here. Tammy is simply not funny.
The movie is poorly written, poorly acted and cannot be saved even with the brilliant Kathy Bates and a bit-part by Dan Akroyd. Foul language exists to try to boost scenes that are stone dead unfunny and it goes over like a lead balloon. I was tempted to ask for a refund.
Don't even waste your time watching it when it comes out on Netflix, you'll be spared the bore-fest.
The IMDb has a 10-line requirement for leaving reviews but to be frank, it hard to write 10- lines about a movie that is simply not entertaining. I suspect that even hard core McCarthy fans will have a hard time trying to swallow this one. -
ozwillb7 October 2021I'm sorry but Melissa Mccarthy is not funny. Susan Sarandon is the only saving grace for this film, and I just discoved Will Ferrell produced it, which is the proverbial kiss of death!!
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kosmasp23 September 2014Another reviewer did write that as his summary and I would agree with that. You don't have to love Melissa (not only main role, but also script writing duties apparently as IMDb states), but if you hate her, this movie is not for you. It's a character that has a basic concept she has played in other movies too. So you'll know if you like that or not. But you get an added Susan Sarandon to that (amongst other really good actors).
Putting this group together was genius and everyone is pulling their weight. You still have to be able to like the humor/jokes they are spitting, otherwise you'll be left empty. The movie is predictable even if at first it seems not to have a goal it wants to reach. It still has quite some passages that could be better and not everything is completely convincing. But the movie itself is a nice watch overall -
death-hawk110 August 2014It's films like these that make me ask 'Why do directors/producers/writers try and fill comedies with sentimental claptrap?'If they want to make a comedy they should make something funny. If they want to make a tear-jerking drama about a granddaughter struggling with her lifelong string of failures and her grandmother's alcoholism then they should release all the stops and make something truly tragic.
Tammy tries to do both and therefore fails twice.
Melissa McCarthy is a hilarious actor and there are moments of brilliance in this film however they are separated by long periods of sentimentality for which i did not sign up.
I hope her next film is a bigger success. -
karolinaesp6 January 2015After seeing this movie and many others and checking the ratings I am sure of one thing now- do not trust IMDb rating or any other ratings. I am pretty sure that most of them are fake. This was quite nice comedy, maybe not the best, but decent optimistic movie worth seeing when you have a bad day. Many films here have better notes and are just waste of time and money. I am giving it solid 7.After seeing this movie and many others and checking the ratings I am sure of one thing now- do not trust IMDb rating or any other ratings. I am pretty sure that most of them are fake. This was quite nice comedy, maybe not the best, but decent optimistic movie worth seeing when you have a bad day. Many films here have better notes and are just waste of time and money. I am giving it solid 7.
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pczoty24 August 2015I have liked Melissa McCarthy's work on SNL and in movies like Bridesmaids and This is 40, and I hoped this film would showcase that hilarious, wild side of the characters she plays. But there are absolutely no redeeming qualities in this mess. The most interesting aspect of it is to consider how the hell they were able to get this impressive cast to agree to participate in this dumpster fire of a film. My theory: people thought this would be Melissa McCarthy's "Tommy Boy." It isn't. Susan Sarandon was horribly miscast as the irreverent grandma. Another fun game to play is to try to articulate the plot of this movie. The main character and her drunk grandmother stumble from one boring, unfunny interaction to the next. The film is completely unable to get us to care about Tammy. She is similar to such a long list of down-and-out movie characters, yet it's hard to care whether she finds redemption, love, happiness... George Lucas writes better love scenes than you'll see in this movie. Overall I'd say that literally any activity is a better investment of time than watching this movie.
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I'm very surprised at all the negative reviews this film has received as I believe those who rated it negatively aren't accepting the movie for what it is. It is your typical Melissa McCarthy movie and for me that is a good thing. Her character in this film is almost identical to her character from "Identity Thief" but I don't have a problem with it like others do as I feel that is her comedic strong point. She isn't afraid to go that extra mile for a laugh. If you're on the fence on whether to rent or buy this movie just ask yourself if you liked her in Bradesmaids and Identity Thief and if your answer is yes, you will not be disappointed with her performance here.
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cosmo_tiger10 November 2014"You're at a crossroads. You could change your life." Tammy (McCarthy) has just lost her job and comes home to find her husband with another woman. She packs her things and decides to leave. Her grandmother (Sarandon) offers her money and her car if she takes her with her. The two set out on a road trip that doesn't always go smooth. This is a movie that I thought could go either way. The previews looked funny and I really like McCarthy but I was worried that the funniest parts were in the trailer. There were a lot of the best jokes in the trailer but there was still enough new stuff to make it funny. The movie also has a lot of heart and you end up feeling sorry for Tammy a lot throughout. As funny as McCarthy is Susan Sarandon almost steals the movie from her. I do think this was very funny and Melissa McCarthy was strong as always but I really think she is gonna have to diversify her roles or she will become too repetitive and lose a lot of her humor. Overall, funny and worth seeing. McCarthy is as funny as ever. I give this a B+.
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LilyDaleLady23 June 2015I thought "Identity Thief" was a pretty bad movie, that exploited poor Melissa McCarthy for her size. But the actress and her husband actually wrote and produced "Tammy", so I am forced to conclude this not "fatty bashing" but that she actually seeks out these roles -- or I should say "THIS ROLE", because its beginning to seem they are all alike. She keeps playing the SAME repulsive character, who is verbally foul mouthed and stupid. (Her weight is really the least of it, though exploited for "humor" as she continually gets hurt, hit, trampled, etc.)
Sadly, there is material here that could have been genuine and humorous -- something about our declining economy, where a middle-aged woman might be stuck working at a lousy fast food restaurant for $7.25 an hour. Alas, this source was not even considered. Like so many movies emanating from the high & mighty in Hollyweird, tucked away in their mansions & gated BelAir communities, "Tammy" simply sneers down from on high, at the "awful low-life rednecks"....as if they were a species apart (you know, from us tasteful people who are slim and never make mistakes).
The story is reed thin -- Tammy is a pathetic loud-mouthed violent loser, who in one day is fired from her lousy fast food job AND comes home to find her husband cheating on her. She leaves on a road trip -- but because she has barely $60 to her name and no car, she has to take along her alcoholic grandmother. They go from place to place, having adventures or incidents that do not contribute to the story line or even make sense....for starters, it took me until nearly the end of the film to realize this is supposed to take place in Louisville, Kentucky. Tammy and Grandma are headed to Niagara Falls, but someone end up in the Mark Twain National Forest -- in Missouri. Look at a map, you'll see how absurd this is.
The biggest flaw in the film is that Melissa McCarthy is a woman in her mid-40s, and looks it. Nothing wrong with that. But the character of Tammy appears to be not a middle aged loser, but an affectless young woman, maybe 23. She has no backstory, no children, no explanation for how she ended up working fast food in her 40s. I can only imagine how good someone like Rebel Wilson might have been with this role! McCarthy has badly miscast HERSELF. For proof of this, she has also cast Susan Sarandon (age 67) as her GRANDMA, and Alison Janney (age 54) as her MOM. This is only possible if each woman gave birth at 12. If Tammy is really 43 as McCarthy is, then Sarandon is exactly right to be her MOM. Why add another character? Janney does exactly nothing here, and has about 4 lines of dialog. Is it vanity or what to pretend McCarthy is in her 20s?
Susan Sarandon, god knows, is a wonderful actress, and totally game -- she really tries here to play out of type, in baggy clothing and prosthetic swollen feet -- but it's hopeless. She is a slim vibrant lady in her 60s, who looks about 52. In fact, she looks miles better than McCarthy, who is made up to look just wretched. (It is apparently not enough for Tammy to be fat -- she is also slovenly, with unwashed stringy hair and wearing the same hideous outfit throughout.) You do wonder how two slim women like Sarandon and Janney raised a morbidly obese daughter.
As slovenly as she is, Tammy apparently OWNS her own home -- which is a charming Craftsman style, furnished like it was featured in House Beautiful. Huh, how does such a total slob (whose car is disgusting and falling apart) manage such a gorgeous house? How does she afford it on a fast food salary? Why does she walk away from a home she OWNS, taking only a bag of clothes and never expresses the slightest concern for her furniture or possessions?
Although nearly every plot point is grating and humorless, the low point is when the two women go to a bar, and immediately hook up with a father and son combo -- thankless roles for Gary Cole and Mark Duplass (hope they were paid a lot, cuz otherwise I don't get it). Cole, who appears to be about 55 is immediately drawn to grandmotherly Sarandon, with her orthopedic shoes and swollen ankles (despite many hot women in the bar) and in minutes, they are having sex in her car. On the other hand, Tammy is pursing the son, in the most aggressive and repulsive way possible (she is shown hitting shamelessly on every man there, oblivious to their disgust at her appearance and apparently thinking herself a "hottie") -- he initially shows repulsion at her -- but the script has him suddenly having a change of heart and falling in love with Tammy, for no believable reason -- she's a self-destructive moron, lives 2 states away from him, is hideously unattractive -- but he's not only abruptly smitten (after being repulsed!), but bails Grandma out of jail to the tune of $1600. Yeah, right.
Almost as bad is a finale set at a giant lesbian Fourth of July party. Not only desperately unfunny, but a tragic waste of the very fine actresses Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh. How bad is it in Hollyweird these days, that actresses of their caliber have to play "second fiddle" to an untalented and unfunny and painfully unattractive figure like "Tammy"? There is some story there, probably way funnier and more poignant than this one.
Avoid, avoid, avoid. -
Comedian Aisha Tyler once stated that comedians should take the first punch during their stand-up/hosting/entertaining performances. Making fun of oneself is more amicable and less controversial than reviling any group of people right off the bat. In my life today, someone cited Melissa McCarthy as a comedian. I originally concurred with the classification, but the more thought I infused into that labeling, the more I dissent it. McCarthy is not Tina Fey, Ellen Degeneres, or Amy Poehler; she began as an actress and continues her career as one. The "comedian" excuse does not apply.
In "Tammy", McCarthy does not only censure herself for the initial stages of the film, but tries to fly the entire film on string of self embarrassment. The saddest thought from my viewing of this film: McCarthy is not only selecting roles like Tammy, but she's creating them for herself. (McCarthy co-wrote the film's screenplay and is directly responsible for the material she has to act out.)
McCarthy and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon are faced with the most screen time in "Tammy" and each contribute more as actors than the script does as a narrative. McCarthy's hysterically brazen screen presence is the film's true source of humor, but I can't help but wonder if McCarthy would be open to revisiting authentic characters like she used to portray in "Gilmore Girls", which would replace her gimmicky, stereotypical roles like Tammy. Susan Sarandon, a goddess of her generation, keeps putting herself out there in whatever script she can get her hands on and we still pity her. As Tammy's grandmother, she at least straps on her acting gear and succeeds with a few lovely moments, but frankly her talent is not justified nor is it utilized properly.
For a project of such a low caliber, "Tammy" attracted a surplus of remarkably talented actors for brief, unflattering roles. The roster includes Gary Cole, Dan Aykroyd, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Kathy Bates and Allison Janney (who took time out of her career best year on television shows "Girls" and "Masters of Sex" to make time for an extended cameo in "Tammy"). Maybe McCarthy charmed these award winners with friendship to convince them "Tammy" was a worthwhile project. At any rate, it looks like they all had fun.
At best, "Tammy" is a cute flick to see with silly friends looking to laugh at things that probably would not be as funny if everyone accessorized their theater-going wardrobe with their thinking caps. McCarthy owns her figure and the expected judgment, but what makes "Tammy" funny is the facial expressions and enunciation McCarthy uses when reciting witless lines of dialogue. Especially in the film's first act, "Tammy" did acquire some laughter on my behalf. (Now whether I was laughing with it or at it is another story...)
At worst, the film is nothing more than an hour and a half of McCarthy making an a$s out of herself. Unclear and unrealistic characterization, expedient character growth for the leading goon, erratic moments of failed poignancy, and poor writing that almost feels like comedic improvising are some of the many wretched qualities present in the film. McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone, the co-writer and director of "Tammy" shoot blank after blank from their comedic firearm.
* / * * * * -
MikeC194 July 2014I went into this movie feeling like it might be underwhelming. I'd heard bad things. A boss of mine tried to steer me away from this movie, but I figured I'd see it anyway. I've gone to McCarthy's movies for a while now, and some of them are relatively amusing on some spectrum. (For example, I thought "Identity Thief" was OK, but "The Heat" just felt like overdone crude trash.) Well, this was a pretty unfunny affair. It was almost kind of depressing. "Take a character that's in a whole lot of crummy situations, and send her off on a road trip with an alcoholic. Should be funny right?" No. It's not. It's uneven, too. It tries to make you care about the characters when they get sad for a moment, but that doesn't work. I don't think I truly laughed once watching this. It was a shame to see Susan Sarandon, Dan Aykroyd, Sandra Oh, Toni Collete and Kathy Bates in this drivel.
The Good: Good actors, despite a bad script.
The Bad: Script is terrible and unfunny. Brings back memories of stuff like "The Hangover III". Just depressing from beginning to the end.
2/10 -
neil-47611 July 2014Tammy catches her husband with another woman, and goes on a road trip with her grandmother.
I'll be honest, I was expecting to hate this. Despite my liking Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmais, I have cordially hated her in everything I have seen her in since. She seems to have not so much cornered as created a market for obnoxious fat women comedies. And presumably there is such a market or they wouldn't keep getting made. But, personally, as some one who finds obnoxious characters the very antithesis of humour, I find such films repellent rather than funny. And the trailer for Tammy gave every impression of this film being the same again.
To my surprise, it isn't. Part of the reason for this is that the character is very badly written, changing from being an obnoxious idiot in the early stages to a less repellent, less stupid, maudlin self-pitier for the majority of the film's length, without any great explanation or justification for doing so. And part of the reason is that the film never aims at being an obnoxious character comedy, more a sentimental cross-generation road trip comedy. Sadly, while this is considerably less offensive, it isn't any less funny.
The fault lies in the conception - misconceived from the start - and the writing, which is never able to rescue the film from where it put itself from the start. The performances are good, as one might expect from the A list women here (Kathy Bates is particularly good), but Tammy isn't ever a character you feel inclined to warm to. Likewise this film. -
jacob-m-ford976 July 2014Melissa McCarthy has been making a pretty steady stream of films almost identical to this one, but where "Bridesmaids", "The Heat," and even "Identity Thief" succeeded, "Tammy" fell very short. "Tammy" is a movie about a middle-aged woman whose obnoxious personality has finally caught up to her. In the first five minutes of the film she has totaled her car, gotten fired from her job, and discovered her husband is having an affair. Her solution to this is to hit the road with her alcoholic grandmother and what follows is a cringe-worthy look at what happens when fictional crass and drunk people do whatever they want. A great idea right?
Wrong. I've always liked road-trip movies. I've always like road-trips. They bring out people's true characters, and what they're actually like when they've been alone in a car for a couple of hours. Yes, this can be pretty unpleasant when we're in the midst of it, but when we're allowed to sit back and watch, humanity becomes admirable when we can see what people are actually like with no boundaries, because the result is often good. If my opinion is asked for, that should be the goal of most films: to take a look at who we are.
So yes, I was looking forward to watching "Tammy" solely because of the fact that it's a road-trip movie. Unfortunately, this is not a road-trip movie. There are maybe three scenes in the entire film that take place in a car, and I'm pretty sure the only time we actually saw anyone driving on a highway was at the very start as Tammy was driving to work. It can be pretty hard to make a cross-country trip if you only drive through neighborhood streets, unless I'm reading the map upside- down.
"Tammy" had an outstanding cast, and it was largely wasted. Starring is of course Melissa McCarthy, playing the exact same character she always plays. That character has been very funny in the past, specifically large-screen debuting in "Bridesmaids", but here it just felt rehearsed. For what McCarthy called her passion project, I felt like she almost didn't even want to be there. Susan Sarandon co-stars as the grandmother, whose character must have been a grandmother at age thirty by the looks of it. In the outstanding (on paper) supporting cast we find Allison Janney, Kathy Bates, Sandra Oh, Mark Duplass, Nat Faxon, Sarah Baker, Toni Collette, and Dan Aykroyd. Bates and Baker specifically were very good, but were given way too little time on screen, and I was legitimately surprised Aykroyd and Colette even agreed to do this movie considering what they were given.
Director, supporting actor, co-writer, and husband to star Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone, attempted something different with his directorial debut, and that's where "Tammy" hurt more than anywhere else. What was advertised was an R-rated comedy, where you sit down to laugh at stupid people doing stupid things, and Falcone embraced that. Where he faulted was also trying to make this movie heartfelt with a good message behind it. What resulted was a 96 minute film where I didn't care for the characters or laugh a single time. I applaud Falcone for experimenting, but he should have realized that it didn't work and take advantage of the reshoot that they took to make some much needed changes.
I was very put off by "Tammy". I'm not a very big fan of the R- rated comedy genre in the first place, but I still laugh as the filmmakers blatantly attempt to elicit that reaction. Unfortunately, "Tammy" was not funny, and that can be a problem when that's the only reason somebody will go see this movie. So as I walked out of the theater I finally laughed as some bloopers began to play and my friend aptly stated: "Let's go. No need to watch the mistakes of the mistake."
I give "Tammy" a 5.2/10. -
middsgo-956-4181825 November 2015Why all the heavy negativity about this silly movie? No, it's not Oscar material, but not every movie needs to be or is meant to be. Besides, comedies rarely win.
I don't usually like crude or vulgar humor, but I had to laugh at a lot in this flick. Yes, some of the "jokes" bomb, but there are a lot of good laughs, too. I think some people are uncomfortable laughing at a hefty, dense woman whose self-esteem may be a patchwork, but she's a good person. Maybe we see some of our selves in there, parts of our selves that we are not comfortable with.
I LOVED Susan Sarandon's performance. I seriously doubt she was looking for an Oscar here, or, as some have suggested, is desperate for any role she can get. I thought her character was a fun trip away from what we expect from a "grandma," and I think Sarandon played it well. In fact, I'd like to know this character if she really existed. She'd be a lot of fun and full of surprises.
It's not necessary to be shocked that some great actors had small roles here. It was a great idea, and you never know how a script, its actors, directors, producers, etc. will gel in the end.
It worked for me (for the most part.) It's one of the few movies I've paid to see at a cinema lately that didn't make me regret the expenditure. -
My second review focuses on the comedy of the weekend named Tammy. As I'm sure you have seen, Melissa McCarthy stars in this rambunctious tale where hilarious antics are sure to plague every second of this movie without any restraint from a censor bureau. From her track record though, we know that her movies have been pretty much the same basic structure, with only slight changes to her character and a different setting. Does Tammy fit into this mold, or is there something more in this film that makes it worthwhile. Read on to find out.
Seeing as Tammy is a comedy, let's start with the laughs this film has to offer. Tammy has a variety of comedy present in this film, all ridiculously silly and overacted as we tend to see in McCarthy's movies. From the very beginning, McCarthy plays her traditional character, hitting a deer in the first five minutes and coaching it through its recovery. You would think this set the stupid bar high, but it only gets stupider as one bad day starts an adventure full of cursing, insults, alcoholic stunts and awkward situations. Many of these scenes you have seen in the trailer, with a comedic kick happening moments after, which you most likely will predict. And through it all McCarthy does her same routine, screaming loudly and making over dramatic motions that take a long time to move on from. She is funny yes, but how much longer can I keep finding entertainment in the same character and laughs she provides. Yet for audience members like me, there are some other characters to help take the comedy reigns. Susan Sarandon playing a careless, alcoholic grandmother was very entertaining, her sarcasm and blunt delivery perfect to ground Tammy's vibrant nature, and provide a bit of a moral dilemma. Even better was Kathy Bates who was a blend of Tammy and Grandma Pearl, doing over the top stunts and yet very too the point with her lines. Often Bates character helped drive the story, helping develop characters with just a few catty phrases before calling in laughs.
Speaking of the dialogue, the writers did a nice job packing the script with a lot of diverse comedic styles. Screaming rants by Tammy are a mess of descriptions that lack any cohesive meaning, often just word vomiting all the thought in her head. Like most rated R movies, witty humor is replaced with curse laden one liners, that sometimes hit the mark and sometimes go soaring over head. Yet, there are some lines that had me laughing incredibly hard, in particular the description of Tammy to a bag of Cheetos and describing her life in a few comical means. Though for many audience members, it didn't matter what was said, for the generic comedy was gold in their eyes.
Story wise, it's simple, escaping a town full of bitter memories to go to Niagara falls to fulfill an old dream. Over the course of the movie, Tammy realizes the sources of her troubles come from within and instead of running she needs to face up to them. While retired, stale, and rather predictable, it is always nice to get a refresher in these life changing lessons, that can kick you hard enough to motivate you to implement them. Otherwise there are no twists, no real surprises, and really no dilemmas you haven't seen before. Such simplicity makes this a fun comedy, but again you can save yourself money and watch one of the other movies McCarthy has starred in.
There really isn't much else I can say about this movie, other than the camera work or sound quality are nicely done. The soundtrack is also filled with some rather good tunes, the opening song in particular made me bob in my seat. Overall Tammy is the same comedy you've seen again. Fans of this style will be rolling on the floor or screaming out loud, so these are the audience members I feel should see the movie. Otherwise skip the film and wait for it to come out on RedBox, unless you are looking for a way to beat the heat. Tammy is stupid, silly fun though, and certainly you will find some laughs and giggles in the writing.
Overall my scores for Tammy are:
Comedy: 5.5-6.0 Movie Overall: 5.0 -
stevendbeard2 July 2014I saw "Tammy", starring Melissa McCarthy-Mike & Molly_t.v., Charlies' Angels; Susan Sarandon-That's My Boy, Speed Racer; Allison Janney- Mom_t.v., The Help and Ben Falcone-The Heat, Bridesmaids.
This is a comedy that is directed by Ben Falcone, Melissa's real life husband of ten years. This is his first time directing but he has been in a lot of movies and t.v. shows. Melissa plays a down on her luck woman. She hits a deer with her car on her way to work, gets fired when she gets to work-Ben plays her boss that lets her go-and then she goes home to find her husband having an intimate dinner with the next door neighbor. I mean she just can't catch a break. Allison plays Melissa's mother and Susan plays her grandmother. Melissa and Susan think that it is time for a change and decide to take a road trip to Niagara Falls- Susan has always wanted to see it, and now she has the money-and that's when the hilarity begins. They get into trouble, get out of trouble, meet new people and even learn some things about themselves. There are several cameos scattered throughout the film, as well as some good music. There is a scene during the end credits but nothing at the very end. It's rated "R" for language and sexual references-no nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 36 minutes. I laughed enough that I would buy this one on DVD. -
adrossan21 July 2014What a piece of garbage.
How does this stuff get produced,even with the marketing lure of sucking in the punters ? Crap, crap and more crap.
Shame on you all, yes you McCarthy, Sarandon and all the other names, what a cynical cash-in and self destructive exercise this is.
No wonder the folks don't go to the cinema any more.
How could you expect anyone to pay $10 for this drivel and be satisfied ? How can you look at the paying public again with any sense of self worth ? This is just crude garbage to rake in dollars with no redemptive value at all.
It negates all aspects of acting and movie making in every sense.
You all deserve to be wrapped in toilet paper and flushed away, along with every former dollar you ever made.
You've all stabbed your audience quite knowingly in the back.
Betrayers. -
Robert_duder11 November 2014Melissa McCarthy breaks down her stardom like this. Either you enjoy her or you can't stand her. There is likely no in between and part of that reason is because she really is a one trick pony. Whether she's playing Molly on her sitcom or her various characters in her hit films, they are all almost identical with very small differences. So this is another McCarthy vehicle where she plays a rough around the edges, smart talking, sarcastic and "butchy" misunderstood person. She also deserves kudos because she always makes you feel incredible empathy for her characters. Tammy is loud and obnoxious and a total mess and her life is falling apart and then by the end of the film you root for her and adore her and the completely zany cast of supporting characters completely win you over. There is nothing particularly amazing or different about Tammy other than it is perhaps a lot darker than most of her other comedies. This is more of the style of Jason Bateman or Bill Murray or something like that. Still there are definitive laugh out loud moments and plenty of the physical comedy that I am a sucker for and Melissa McCarthy does well even though I don't like that her weight is always a punch line...its what she knows and does best.
I think I've already spoken to her performance in the film. It is very good and the one thing with Tammy is that she gets some depth and emotion in there at various points and it works. She definitely has a unique knack and chemistry on screen. The supporting cast is terrific including very brief cameos from Dan Akroyd, Allison Janey, Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh. The meat and potatoes of the film though is McCarthy and Susan Sarandon who gives a subtle but really terrific performance as Grandma. She's an alcoholic, desperately trying to grab onto life and their scenes together are really great. Sarandon is terrific and its been awhile since I've seen her in anything so I was glad to see her in this. Also really great comedic cameos from Toni Collette (also brief but effective), Ben Falcone (he's always a great cameo in McCarthy films--her real life husband), Nat Faxon and a sort of bizarrely small performance by Mark Duplass who is actually good in the role as McCarthy's eventual love interest but its an incredible small part for a romantic "lead." But romance isn't the focus of the story I suppose.
I know I said that Tammy doesn't really bring anything new to the table and I stand by that but at the same time it is far cry from Identity Thief or Bridesmaids. Its a lot darker content that a silly comedy. There is some deep introspective on life and mistakes and redemption. But if you don't look too deeply its good for a laugh. The film is actually directed by McCarthy's husband whom I mentioned, Ben Falcone. He absolutely has some talent behind the lens. Especially considering this is his directorial debut. This, much like your opinion of McCarthy, boils down to either you'll really enjoy it or you'll hate it. I think most fans of a good comedy will appreciate a strong story and good characters. My biggest complaint was that I wanted to see far more development from supporting cast members but that's because there were a lot of significant comedians in the film that got very little screen time and we know how terrific they can be. I still very much enjoyed the film. 8/10 -
8 July 2014 Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester Tonight - Tammy. OK so this is a road trip movie, starring Susan Sarandon, but Thelma and Louise it is not! This is the story of Tammy, fired from her dead end job, totals her car on the way home then finds her husband entertaining a woman when she gets there, she realises that life pretty much sucks. Wanting to borrow her Grandma's car to leave town she is horrified when she realises that Grandmas wants to come too, and she wants to drive to Niagara Falls. Melissa McCarthy stars as Tammy and she is very annoying, way too brash to be endearing and she does not shut up but despite that she grows on you. Susan Sarandon is excellent as the alcoholic Grandma and there is an appearance from Gary Cole (remember him from The Midnight Caller - a lot older but still quite good looking with his salt and pepper hair and beard). This film keeps you interested as Tammy and her Grandma lurch from one incident to the next and they both learn things about themselves and each other along the way. Point to note, one of the producers was Will Ferrell. No belly laughs but several chuckles.
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You know, if this movie had a tone and stuck to it, this might have been an enjoyable flick to watch. But first, it tries to be slapstick-like at the beginning, then more light-hearted in giving the characters a good time, and then a little dramatic concerning the near-death of one of those characters. The result: Tammy is mostly boring even at a little over 90 minutes. I liked Melissa McCarthy (who co-wrote this) and Susan Sarandon as her grandma singing The Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider". And some of their dialogue exchanges had some charm. But mostly, I was just underwhelmed by the whole thing. Oh, and Dan Aykroyd as McCarthy's father was a not-too-inspired cameo. So on that note, I can't recommend Tammy.