Why I Saw It: Melissa McCarthy and there was nothing else worth seeing.
Cast: Melissa McCarthy is funny. Her Tammy character is incredibly similar to her character in Identity Thief. There's a lot of physical comedy and laughing because she's unkempt. It wasn't as heavy on her riffing as I expected, which probably comes from her being the writer. Susan Sarandon plays Tammy's grandmother. Yes, grandmother. I've done the math and that one doesn't make sense unless McCarthy is playing much younger and Sarandon much older. Sarandon's fine although I spent most of my time doing the math in my head and being confused. Mark Duplass is a potential love interest, as he seems to be in every mid-level dramedy these days. Gary Cole is Duplass's dad, although he plays as the same age as Sarandon...I had a hard time getting past the age stuff. Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh and fun lesbians. A couple other familiar faces "from that one TV show" pop up throughout the movie as well. Oh, and Dan Aykroyd kills in his 2-3 minutes of screen time.
Plot: This couldn't be Melissa McCarthy's movie more than it is (starring her, written and produced by her, directed by her husband) and it's disappointing to say that I wasn't impressed. There's not a whole lot to the story. Basically, Tammy gets fired from her job, loses her husband, then goes on a road trip with her alcoholic grandmother. They get side-tracked in Louisville, where most of the movie takes place. Not much happens. It's a listless story. There's some funny jokes in there. Little of substance. It's only about 100 minutes long and has trouble filling that time.
Elephant in the Room: Louisville, you say? Being from Louisville and living there now, this is going to get my attention. Other than a stock establishing shot, you can quickly tell they didn't shoot in Louisville (locations in North Carolina, mostly). I quickly took issue with the painting of Louisville as a cowboy town where the only men are farmers. That's one of those lazy characterizations that bothered me and took me out of the movie more than it was intended to. Had it been part of a better movie, I could forgive it much easier. So, anyone else from Louisville, don't get excited. It's the same old East/West coast depiction of middle America.
To Sum Things Up:
This was an underwhelming movie. That's all I can say about it. McCarthy is fine. Saradon is fine. All the actors do well enough. With a more cohesive story, maybe I'd like this a lot more. Well, I wouldn't because I find the Tammy character annoying. But, the same people who made Identity Thief and The Heat hits would really enjoy this movie if it had a little more direction. I can't wait for someone to realize how to use McCarthy again. Until then, rewatch Bridesmaids. You can skip Tammy.
Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend
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