Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Review: Identity Thief

This one wasn't my pick; however, I had no arguments against it. It seemed a little silly and good for a few laughs, but what really got me interested enough to pay money was Jason Bateman. I don't know if you know this, but I love his sense of humor. Something about the straight-laced, no-one's-listening-anymore, almost-muttering delivery he has just speaks to me. A lot of people I've tried to explain this to do not understand. They don't laugh when he speaks. I, on the other hand, find trouble not laughing at every word he says. There's just something about it.
Basically Sandy (Bateman) finds out about huge purchases made with his card and a crime he supposedly committed in another state. Obviously, this was not him and he realizes he has become a victim of identity theft, because someone has been using his account, his social, and his name. The police (like in most comedies/actions/any movie where the cop isn't the main character) are useless in protecting Sandy from becoming overdrawn and losing his job, so it's up to him to bring the person who has stolen his identity face-to-face with the ColoradoPD and get a confession. Thus, he travels to where his card was used last to bring "Sandy," who we shall now call Diana (McCarthy), to bring her back with him. A messed-up roadtrip ensues where they have to beware of a crazy bounty hunter and two drug dealer (associates?) who are also looking for Diana. A lot of random troubles occur, which I honestly could not tell you the exact order of (or why), even though I saw it two days ago.

So, obviously, there's some great laughs. And for the most part it tends to stay on track of fairly believable. (Minus the bounty hunter and two drug dealers, who I kind of felt the movie would've done much better without.) The odd thing about this movie was that there are some strangely sentimental moments where you really sympathize with Diana (and Melissa McCarthy does a great job in these dramatic scenes -- I think she cries like three times and it makes me think she shouldn't always go for the funny girl parts).

And the movie has this message about being a schmuck because that's the "right" thing. I couldn't really get a hundred percent behind that part. Sometimes you need to play the game. The world is not black and white, and I think it's better to stand up for yourself and what you believe is right, then get walked all over because that's the nice thing to do.

Identity Thief (Gordon, 2013) has some silly laughs and great friendship-based values. I think it tries too hard (and fails) at a deep moral message five minutes after she tapes up a bounty hunter with a Capri Sun, but it's a fun movie to see with friends. Verdict: RENT-IT. 

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