LIFE OF THE PARTY 2018 COMEDY MOVIE REVIEW
LIFE OF THE PARTY MOVIE :
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| Deanna and Jennifer |
LIFE OF THE PARTY MOVIE STORY :
McCarthy plays Deanna, a newly separated housewife who joins at Decatur University to study archaeology. Right from the initial gate, the comedian feels harnessed by a plot that asks us to pity this lady because her husband (Veep's Matt Walsh) has dumped her for another lady (Modern Family's Julie Bowen). Problems arise because Deanna's daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) is a senior at the same school. How can the kid not be horrified and humiliated that her mom will be around delivering snacks and mother-Henning all over the place? Before you ask, "Say, doesn't this sound like Rodney Dangerfield's 1986 Back to School with a sex charge", let us assure folks that Life of the Party is not even remotely in the same hilarious league. It has PG-13 marshmallows where its metaphorical balls should be.
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| Deanna and Jennifer attend an '80s party |
McCarthy falls into the same trap she did in Tammy and The Boss, the two other movies she wrote with her husband/director Ben Falcone. By that we mean she allows her to laugh instincts to get buried in a blanket of bland. It's not a coincidence that the three best McCarthy screen vehicles so far – Spy, The Heat, and Bridesmaids, for which she was Oscar-nominated – were all directed by Paul Feig, a filmmaker who knows how to showcase her genuine gift for blending brash with bubbly charm.
Of course, no movie with McCarthy can be a total loss, and Life of the Party has its moments once the script stops making easy jokes about fish-outta-water cluelessness and lets McCarthy mix it up with a terrific-if-overqualified supporting cast. SNL's Heidi Gardner excels as Deanna’s goth roommate; Gillian Jacobs is a hoot as an adult student who returns to school after eight years in a coma (don't ask); and Maya Rudolph, as Deanna’s off-campus best friend, makes a perfect McCarthy sparring partner.
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