Dumb but funny.
First off, happy mother’s day mother fuckers. I spent the earlier part of Saturday celebrating with my mom and sisters (who are mothers themselves) over drinks, and probably food, but definitely drinks, in the heart of Ottawa’s vibrant Byward Market – and we just happened to do that beside Matt Smith, who was in town for Comic Con. Jason Momoa was also in town but I guess someone else had already offered to braid his hair like he was a sweet, sweet pony.
Anyway. Did it help that I had consumed drinks literally marketed as “fishbowls”? Likely yes. Did it help that some of the jokes made in the movie were oddly similar to the jokes we’d been making at my mom’s expense all day long? You bet. Maybe I was just in the mood to laugh, but laugh I did, and so did the rest of a pretty packed theatre.
In Life of the Party, Melissa McCarthy plays Deanna, a woman who’s just been dumped by her jackass husband after a quarter decade of devotion and submission. She decides 
to capitalize on her freedom by finishing the degree she gave up in favour of pregnancy over twenty years ago – the only problem is, she’s now a classmate of her daughter Maddie, because of course she’s elected to go to the exact same college. And I should say: it’s a problem for her daughter, who thinks it’s less than fun to have her booze and sex parade rained out by her uncool mom, but it’s a dream come true for Deanna who can’t wait to spend every waking moment with her daughter, aka, the only good thing to come out of her crummy marriage. Things are further complicated when Maddie’s friends all fall maddeningly in love with Deanna’s endearing “down to clown” antics.
Here’s the thing. This movie is not really a good movie, and it’s not really trying to be. It’s not treading new ground, it’s not smart, it’s not edgy. It’s a a benign, somewhat ridiculous premise that merely exists in order to set up some fairly ludicrous jokes. But it does, quite frequently, knock them down with some punch. The script is less objectionable than most in McCarthy’s recent past, and her performance has got more zing and zeal than all the bedazzled sweatshirts in the movie combined (believe me, it’s substantial).
Do I recommend this movie? It’s hard to go that far. The cornball factor is high. But the truth is, Melissa McCarthy seems uniquely qualified to deal in cheese, and really, who doesn’t love cheese?
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I watched the trailer for this and it looked okay. I need to start watching a few comedies again.
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They haven’t really given us many comedies to be excited about lately.
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Have you watched Games night? It’s not great but made me laugh a few times.
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I’m sure I’ll see it, but film son has already made it clear he won’t be joining me.
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TBH, I’d watch Melissa read a grocery list, so I’ll likely be seeing it once it’s streaming. Thanks for your honesty and kindness. =0)
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We completely agree on this one.. 🙂 And umm it was me braiding Jason Momoa’s hair and afterwards he braided mine.. so there!! 🙂
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Haha, I knew it!!
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I saw the trailer for this and figured that was all I needed to see of it.
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If an ‘adult going back to school’ reaches the quality of Educating Rita, then I’m all for it, otherwise, nope … or maybe digitally late one night. 🙂
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So a good one to wait for Netflix?
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Basically.
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Aren’t all her movies dumb but funny😁
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Unfortunately I don’t always find them funny!
But it sounds like she’s gone some interesting things coming down the pipes.
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I just watched Spys again. I love the characters in that movie. They are what is funny in that movie
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I like Melissa McCarthy, I might just give this a shot.
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I think anyone who likes Melissa will find this movie easy to digest and agreeable thereafter. Those who don’t, won’t. I enjoyed it, but can’t really get on board with a full-throated recommendation. She’s done better elsewhere. Glad I saw it. Don’t need to see it again. Probably have already forgotten half of it by now.
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