Identity Thief (2013, Dir. Seth Gordon, USA) (Cert: 15) **
Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Robert Patrick
Sandy Patterson of Denver, Colorado (Bateman) becomes the
victim of identity theft when a woman (McCarthy) living in Florida steals some
of his personal details, running up massive financial debts. When her
activities cause the authorities to get involved, Sandy assures his boss (John
Cho) and the detective assigned to the case (Morris Chestnut) that he will go
to Florida and apprehend the woman himself. When travelling back by plane
proves impossible, thanks to matching identification, Sandy and the identity
thief must travel from Florida to Denver by car.
I admit to having a personal soft spot for road movies.
There’s something about the form the narrative takes and the scenic locations
that I find entertaining. Identity Thief however, really doesn’t live up to
such a promise. The premise, in of itself, isn’t a bad one, but it is poorly
executed with our protagonist taking far too long to catch on to his identity
being stolen and after that, the film walks a morally dubious tight-rope to the
finish. Melissa McCarthy is at least, at times, likable but mostly when the
bravado stops and the actual dramatic weight of the character takes over. Other
than that, it isn’t a particularly amusing film and could’ve been trimmed by a
good thirty minutes.
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