Tammy

I am unashamed to admit to being a bit of a Melissa McCarthy fan. Ever since her appearance as hilarious misfit Megan in Bridesmaids, she has been one of my favourite comedy actresses. Despite this though, I’d been looking forward to Tammy since seeing the first trailer ages ago with a pinch of dread.

McCarthy seems to be getting typecast as the butch, loud, funny fat lady (see The Heat and Identity Thief as prime examples!) and all of those performances are much the same. It’s a shame, because she is more than capable of portraying any kind of comedic role well, and she is much more talented than these limited castings give her credit for.

So the time came, and tonight was the night I put Tammy on because, well I had nothing better to do and needed a laugh. 

I have to say, the trailer does not do this film justice. While predictably McCarthy does play the loudmouth we’ve come to expect, the film has a lot more heart than the trailer implies. Pair that with a surprisingly good cast, including Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates, and you’ve actually got yourself a decent comedy.

Tammy does follow the typical Melissa McCarthy character arc though, so don’t expect anything original. The loudmouth, butch fat lady who is down on her luck in more ways than one does some loudmouth, funny but kind of slapstick stuff. Along the way we realise through various upsets in her life that she actually is a nice person beneath all the shouting and swearing, and we grow fond of her, and then she finds love. The end.

There’s nothing particularly original about Tammy and to be honest, limiting Melissa McCarthy to these types of roles only limits the comedic potential of the film, and Tammy has very few laugh out loud moments. Susan Sarandon is probably the highlight of the film, playing McCarthy’s alcoholic grandmother. Her drunken antics are brilliantly funny, and she is the perfect casting choice, albeit quite unexpected!

Basically, this film is pretty funny and not completely terrible. It’s a lot better than McCarthy’s other efforts in this sort of comedy which, apart from Bridesmaids, have been shit. I know there are a lot of McCarthy haters out there who don’t think she’s funny, but to be honest, I don’t care…don’t like her don’t watch her films, it’s that simple! If you like her, then Tammy is a reasonable watch, if you don’t like her, I suspect gouging your own eyes out with blunt spoons would probably be more bearable.