Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Can You Ever Forgive Me?
seen @ Kew Gardens Cinemas, Kew Gardens, Queens, NY

So far, my favorite Melissa McCarthy movie is this. It's a short from 1998, long before she hit the big time. She's everything you would want a genuine movie star to be: funny, engaging, a embodiment of her character that allows the real her to show through, and beautiful.

So now that she is a movie star, she takes an almost perverse glee in de-glamming herself in her roles. I get it, it's what made her popular, but it holds no appeal to me, especially when she plays mostly slobs!

Then came Can You Ever Forgive Me? Once again, she plays a slob, but it's a real-life one, in a dramatic role no less, which as we all know, is a surefire way for comedic actors to gain credibility with the Academy come Oscar time. The first time I saw the trailer, I didn't recognize her at all!

Lee Israel is a struggling biographer. She struggles because she doesn't play well with others, but she don't give a damn about her bad reputation until money troubles force her to rethink her career options. She stumbles into a scheme to make money by forging letters from famous authors. She's pretty good at it, but how long can she keep it up?

I have no doubt McCarthy will get her second Oscar nod for this one. It's a dream role for any actress: a hard-drinking, unapologetically surly woman who wants to live her life her way for as long as possible.

Richard E. Grant was good in this too.
It was nice to see him again.

McCarthy brings enough humanity to the role that she's not totally repulsive. I would compare this to her big comedic roles, except I've never seen them. When I was in the hospital two years ago, I watched part of the cop movie she did with Sandra Bullock, but I didn't finish.

How long can McCarthy keep on playing slobs? I would've thought she'd have veered away from them by now, but maybe she really likes these kinds of roles. I can't see her sticking to them when she's in her sixties, but these days, who knows?