You won’t see Melissa McCarthy’s dimples nor her effervescent personality in this dramedy. But she is extraordinary playing a frumpy, middle-aged writer who, out of desperation, found a creative way to re-invent herself. It’s based on the true story of author Lee Israel.
Marielle Heller directs this treatise which depicts Israel as a pathetic human being. Israel is portrayed as a downtrodden alcoholic who dotes on her cat. She lives a lonely existence, rarely smiling. The film looks almost sepia toned to give it an old, stale feel. McCarthy’s eyes are half closed all the time. Maybe it’s from the booze but it appears very much like she’s walking in her sleep. And she’s got plenty of attitude. She gets nasty!
Israel’s claim to fame was as the juicy celebrity biographer in the 70’s and 80’s who wrote her best received books about Katherine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, makeup magnate, Estee Lauder and the controversial journalist, Dorothy Kilgallen. When demand for her to write those books dried up in the 80’s, she had trouble finding writing jobs to pay the rent and for the alcohol.
Israel makes a last stab at landing a book deal for a Fanny Brice biography, but her brutally honest agent, played by Jane Curtin, shoots it down. Attending a party for successful writers, Lee nonchalantly steals a warm coat and a roll of toilet paper before heading into the night. It’s rock bottom.
When she successfully sells a letter she received from Katherine Hepburn for a pretty penny, the light bulb went off. Why not forge more letters from other celebrities and sell them to booksellers who would clamor for more? The title of the film comes from a line in one of Dorothy Parker’s letters meant to be sarcastic.
This an unexpected gem from McCarthy who attacks roles much like some of her comedic hits like Bridesmaids. She’s a woman who plays by her own rules. The difference here is that she never goes completely over the top. She keeps her melancholy character understated, nasty, and satiric. This is a richly textured performance. With Richard E. Grant as Jack, her partner in crime and counterpart, they make a strangely likable pair who get sympathy even as they inevitably spiral toward defeat.
Heller sets the pace with McCarthy plodding along aimlessly as Israel trying to get over writer’s block and become anything but dysfunctional. The director packs Israel’s apartment with details to that show her messy desperation. That life is more than messy, it’s disgusting. Israel is so oblivious to how far she’s sunk that she’s not even aware that her apartment has become one huge litter box. Heller’s floor level shot of the cat feces under the bed is disturbing. Israel replaces the cat poop with several old typewriters. It’s an effective tool to show the transformation back into productivity, albeit illegal. The collection of vintage typewriters used to make it look like the letters actually come from famous authors and movie stars is a striking feature showing how it became a business for them until she and her partner in crime were found out.
Grant gets the big laughs in the script but writers Nicole Holocener and Jeff Whitty also craft him as exasperating, devious and needy. He needles his way into Lee’s life. But he, too, is pathetic. Jack is gay and his promiscuity does him in at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic.
Some of Director Heller’s best work behind the camera is in her portrayal of the New York City bookstores and secondhand shops who willingly bought the forged letters with cash and a wink. The soft focus and light in those settings evoked a time when there was more reverence and appreciation for the written word. One notable bookstore owner is played by Dorothy Wells, who wants to believe in Lee and appears smitten. But her offer of friendship, and maybe more, is never reciprocated. McCarthy’s real life husband, Ben Falcone, also plays one of the book sellers.
The film shows how pathetic Israel was by her knowing the best thing that ever happened was that she was caught. Forced to admit her crimes turned off her path of self-destruction.
We give McCarthy well-deserved praise for taking on a role so unusual for her and so different than anything she’s done. We more than forgive McCarthy and Richard E. Grant for their extraordinary performances. They’re both best-sellers in our book.
Fox Searchlight 146 minutes R
