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Identity Thief (2013)
Identity Thief (2013)
I cannot begin to comprehend how frustrating it would be if somebody stole my identity, my money, ruined my credit, and straight up destroyed my good name. I cannot fathom how angry and upset I would be. Besides wanting to physically hurt that person, I would probably want to do anything and everything in my power to get my identity back and my life back to normal.
Identity Thief is about an upstanding citizen and hardworking father named Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) who gets his identity stolen by a woman (Melissa McCarthy). She systematically destroys his life while running around town having fun on his dime. In order to try to fix the harm that she has caused, Sandy decides to travel across the country to track her down and bring her to justice; a task that proves much more difficult than he anticipated.
The movie was directed by Seth Gordon and written by Craig Mazin and Jerry Eeten.
The rest of the noteworthy cast includes Jon Favreau, Amanda Peet, Robert Patrick, John Cho, Jonathan Banks, Genesis Rodriguez, and T.I.
I thought that this film was going to be funnier. Don’t get me wrong, it had its moments of hilarity, but it just wasn’t as funny as it looked. However, it is still above average and funnier than a lot of comedies out there these days.
A number of events in the movie were a little too convenient and predictable. Given that it is in fact a movie, some of that is to be expected. However, when convenient things happen too often in movies, it tends to take away from the suspension of disbelief. When things are less believable, they are also less enjoyable. Identity Thief seemed to try a little bit too hard at times and as a result, the film was not as humorous as it otherwise could have been.
Bateman and McCarthy played their characters perfectly. He was a decent, easy going, stand up guy. She pulled off being not nearly as innocent as she looked. The two contrasted very well and the end result was a good amount of uncontrollable laughter.
Peet seemed to simply show up for the money. Her role was not major, but it seemed like she just read her lines without much effort at all.
At times the humor fell short, but I fault the writers for this. A couple of raunchy scenes were way over-the-top and seemed unnecessary. It felt like they were part of the movie simply for the shock value. Instead of those scenes being shocking or funny, they just came off as being cheap and stupid.
Overall Identity Thief is worth seeing and good for a number of laughs.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you enjoyed Identity Thief, then you will probably like Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) and Due Date (2010) even better.
Due Date (2010)
Due Date (2010)
Due Date engulfed me in laughter. It was one hysterical moment after another. Just when I thought I could not laugh any longer, I giggled and then laughed harder and longer than before.
The film is a sort of new-age Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987). Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) is leaving Atlanta and trying to return to his nearly birthing wife (Michelle Monaghan) in Los Angeles. Everything is going smoothly until Peter bumps into Ethan (Zach Galifianakis). Peter ends up stuck traveling across the country with Ethan desperately trying to be in the delivery room when his baby arrives.
The chemistry and timing between Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis is hysterical. The way that their personalities play off of each other is brilliant. Robert Downey Jr. brings a slick, suave, seriousness to his character and Galifianakis is everything but. The duo was a perfect casting match. I think that this movie is easily my favorite Robert Downey Jr. movie and could be the best movie that Zach Galifianakis is in.
Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, RZA, Matt Walsh, and Todd Phillips all have small cameo-like appearances.
The humor is clever and raunchy and about everything else in between. But, it is all mostly just well-crafted. The writers: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedman, Adam Sztykiel, and Todd Phillips, took a very basic idea for a story and screenplay and let their imaginations run wild.
Due Date is directed by Todd Phillips. He continues his trend of directing and being a part of hilarious movies. I didn’t realize that he also directed The Hangover (2009), The Hangover Part II (2011), The Hangover Part III (2013), School for Scoundrels (2006), Starsky and Hutch (2004), Old School (2003), and Road Trip (2000) among others. That is a heck of a comedy resume! If you liked any of those movies, than you will definitely like Due Date.
If you have not seen this movie, I implore you to do so. It is available to rent on Netflix, or just go out and buy it. It is not currently available at the Redbox. I have probably seen it 5 times now and it was highly amusing every time. You will not be disappointed.
I rate this movie a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? BUY!
If you liked Due Date (2010), then you might enjoy Identity Thief (2013).
Note: I did you a favor by only posting the teaser trailer for this movie. The full-length preview shows way too much.