IDENTITY THIEF (2013) * ½

I’m sure buried somewhere down deep is a fine actress, but for the most part, Melissa McCarthy is often typecast as abrasive, annoying, and obnoxious loudmouth characters.  The box office receipts prove that there is an audience for her brand of humor, but I find her usual screen persona to be off-putting and unfunny.  Identity Thief did not make me a convert. 

Jason Bateman stars as a family man whose credit, job, and life is ruined by an identity thief (McCarthy).  When the cops prove to be ineffectual, he travels to Florida to find her and bring her before the authorities.  Naturally, she’s also wanted by a gang of criminals, which puts a definite crimp in their road trip. 

Directed by Seth Gordon (who also worked with Bateman in the much better Horrible Bosses), Identity Thief gets off to a decent start.  There is something sort of satisfying about turning the tables on someone who did you wrong, and that idea could’ve made for a pretty funny movie.  Sadly, after about a half-hour, that plotline is dropped as the film turns into a road movie with Bateman and McCarthy dodging bad guys, bounty hunters, and the police.

Most of the time, we are subjected to McCarthy’s painfully unfunny antics, which is the major dealbreaker.  The long scenes of she and Bateman driving are unbearable (especially when she sings along with the radio).  Bateman gets one or two laughs from his exasperated looks and/or throwaway insults, but he’s basically more of an audience surrogate than a real character.  It’s also a shame to see the always lovely Amanda Peet being wasted in the typical wife role.

Things really fall apart when the movie tries to make you feel sorry for McCarthy’s character.  She’s a thief and a fraud who ruined our hero’s life and all of a sudden, they expect us to sympathize with her?  There’s no way I could possibly identify with this thief.  Ha.  See what I did there?