Identity Thief
★★
If there is any upside to Identity Thief, it's a perfect example of how hard it is to make a comedy. It takes more than just putting two very talented and likable actors (Justin Bateman and Melissa McCarthy) together and assuming that whatever they do will turn into gold. It's fine for movies to take liberties with an unrealistic plot, but when a comedy's jokes fall flat, that's when the audience has a chance to poke holes in the story. And boy, there are a lot of actions that are taken by these characters that do not make sense in the slightest bit. There was no need for this movie to run almost two hours and by the end, I was still not convinced that the characters would have any real connection to one another. Thankfully Bateman and McCarthy are talented enough to leave this film behind because it's only good for a couple of chuckles. One throat punch is funny, but by throat punch number four, I was done.
