Melissa McCarthy is a talented comedian who isn’t afraid to do anything or a laugh. There are some in this film, but when she goes over the top, this film loses the fun of a party, especially in the big centerpiece scenes.
Ben Falcone directs his wife,Melissa McCarthy, in a film about a middle-aged suburban housewife named Deanna, who, after dropping off her daughter, Maddie (Molly Gordon) at Decatur U. for college, she’s dumped by her husband. Complications arise when she decides to follow her dream and join her daughter at college to finally finish getting her college degree in Archaeology. Falcone does a cameo in the beginning of the film that’s funny, but we think it might have helped the film if he’d appeared more.
Deanna leans on her best friend, Christine (Maya Rudolph) for advice and encouragement. Rudolph is hilarious as she lives vicariously through Deanna and applies some of her antics to her relationships with her husband. One look from her is all that’s needed. The racquetball scene where Deanna is taking out her frustration by hitting the ball so hard off the wall it nails her friend in the crotch is too easy a way to get a laugh. Interesting, though that the two men waiting for these gals to finish their silly game are played by McCarthy’s real father and father-in-law.
Deanna’s daughter is humiliated and embarrassed for about a minute and then becomes not only her classmate, but her sorority sister. They accept Mom way too fast. The girls are well cast and provide a certain amount of fun, especially Gillian Jacobs as Coma Girl, Helen, and Jessie Ennis, as the cute, clueless redhead.
But the character who really stood out plays Deanna’s roommate, Leonor, (Heidi Gardner – SNL) . She’s plays the Goth girl who likes everything dark and never leaves the room. Gardner works deadpan so well and is a juxtaposition to Deanna’s overly bright personality.
Deanna may be middle age, but her libido is awakened at college by a young hunk named Jack (Luke Benward). Between being around this guy and the girls, Deanna is in a time warp embracing sex, drugs, and alcohol which just isn’t that funny in this film.
There are two scenes that a memorable for different reasons. One is good and the other is bad. When the girls go to the 80’s costume party dressed to the teeth in “Dynasty” attire, the audience roared. And when Deanna hits the dance floor to show off that era’s moves, she sparkles in the dance-off winning against her campus arch enemy.
The bad scene is when Deanna and the girls decide to trash the wedding reception of her ex-husband to Marcie (Julie Bowen- Modern Family), the paint-by-number home wrecker. It’s over-the-top, done just for shocking visuals, and made no sense since she always said she’d never hurt her daughter, who is attending her Dad’s wedding. It’s just too easy to blame this silly, unfunny destruction on pot.
It’s obvious that Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone like working together and it’s nice that they have developed a home business. Melissa McCarthy has been delightfully funny in other vehicles. Hate to be the party pooper, but this one fell flat.
Warner Bros./New Line Cinema 1 hour 45 minutes PG-13 Reviewed May, 9, 2018
