Typically I don't see this many comedies in a row as I've done thus far--"Tully", "Overboard" and now "Life of the Party". Because of the crassness, banal writing and stupidity of most comedies, I have tended to let them pass on. As with the two predecessors, this too, was truly better than I expected. This wasn't original, but still had potential of true physical comedy.
When her husband, Dan (Matt Walsh) dumps her abruptly for another woman, Marcie (Julie Bowen), longtime dedicated Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) turns regret into re-set by going back to college--landing in the same school and class as her daughter Maddie (Molly Garden), who's not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna--now Dee Rock--embraces freedom, fun and frat boys, namely Jack (Luke Benward) on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected. Not only does she have support from her sorority sisters, including Helen (Gillian Jacobs) and Amanda (Adria Arjona), but from her best friend, Christine (Maya Rudolph) as well.
Others to round out the cast are Jacki Weaver as Sandy, Deanna's mom, Stephen Root as Mike, Deanna's dad, Debby Ryan as Jennifer, Sarah Baker as Gildred, Jimmy O. Yang as Tyler, Heidi Gardner as Leonor and Christina Aguilera as herself.
This was directed with gusto and wit by Ben Falcone ("Tammy" '14, "The Boss" '16) plus TV. With truly limited experience, this filmmaker, being an actor himself, knows what it takes to get his actors to emit that right emotion given whatever scene is being implemented. The fact that his wife, McCarthy is the one he's directing certainly makes his job easier than if she wasn't, however his expertise is a natural one. It was effectively written by Falcone and Melissa McCarthy. Their style is crude and rude, but what makes their films better than most of their counterparts is the writing. Not that it is Academy Award worthy, it certainly has a writing style that is better crafted and the crassness is somewhat toned down, as with this. Sure, this has problems such as going from dry, unoriginal predictability to something funnier with a better writing style, but since they have a limited amount of experience, I feel, given time and more projects, they will find their place in the writers' arena and become more seasoned with each future film.
McCarthy is certainly the new queen of physical comedy, and with more films, we will see this even more. If I had to compare this with any film, it would be that of "Legally Blond" in that this is an older version of the role Reese Witherspoon created as a coming of age vehicle learning something new through the drastic changes. If you're a McCarthy fan, you'll love this, because this is the quintessential summer comedy flick.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: PG-13 105mins.
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