In a Nutshell
Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer (and cat lover) who made her living in the 1970s and 1980’s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estée Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee found herself unable to get published because she had fallen out of step with the marketplace, she turned her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E. Grant).
[imdb]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4595882/[/imdb]Review
On January 22nd 2019 Richard E. Grant uploaded a video clip onto his twitter feed giving his response to his first Oscar nomination after nearly 40 years of acting.
After a mere week that incredibly wholesome clip has been seen by about 3.44 Million people which is about 2.5 times as many dollars that Withnail & I made in its original run at the box-office, the film which Grant is arguably most recognized for.
The Film’s Prime Appeal is the Performances From its two Leads
The film which has garnered Grant his coveted nomination and as well as an extensively long list of other awards and accolades is new release; Can You Ever Forgive Me? Fronted by Melissa McCarthy who plays the real-life Lee Israel who when her writing career was dwindling, attempts to make a living by selling self-forged letters of famous writers and playwrights, with Richard E. as her partner in crime.
As one may gather from the majority of the discussion around the film, the prime appeal is the performances from the two leads. Melissa McCarthy really makes an effort, giving a performance that his far more grounded and subtle than what we’ve seen from her usual over-the-top comedic roles. Her character is desperate, rude and misanthropic, but is compelling as she rejects the snobbery of her fellow New York Writers.
Most of Lee’s charm comes from her dry and sardonic wit however there are moments were McCarthy indulges in her more overt and loud typical comedic stylings, in several scenes there are a few awkward edits where it perhaps suggests there was improvisation on set which didn’t make it to the film, but for the most part she is contained delivering a performance that hopefully foreshadows more of these dry and complex roles to come from Melissa.
A Scene Stealing Performance From Richard E. Grant
The star of the show however is McCarthy’s counter-part Richard E. Grant as the wandering alcoholic Jack Hock, whom she meets in a bar. Hock is fun-loving, spontaneous, but Grant plays him with a consistent underlying sadness and even desperation either for his next buzz or just human attention and affection.
Undoubtedly the best scenes in the film are when Jack and Lee are on screen together, out drinking or playing prank phone calls on Lees’ agent, his intensity, eagerness and almost childishness juxtaposed with her deadpan salt create an extremely watchable chemistry that give such a heart to the film.
Unfortunately one of the main downfalls of Can You Ever Forgive Me is that this chemistry simply isn’t in the film enough, Grants character often gets lost for long stretches in mist of sub-plots aren’t as interesting as his, such as a courtship between Israel and a bookshop owner played by Dolly Wells which is fine but doesn’t really go anywhere and is nowhere near as compelling as the relationship the two billed leads
A Comedic First act That Undermines the Film’s Attempts at Suspense
The first hour or so of the show is very watchable, really letting the audience bathe in the comedy and the performances, however the film makes a turn around the hour mark, when the scandals Lee partakes in become more severe and there is an attempt to create a much more serious tone, in particular, a some-what intense scene involving theft from an archive.
In a different film this moment and others like it could be great and nerve-racking, but after an hour of relatively
Ultimately the subject matter doesn’t really make for gripping crime-drama, although it does involve fraud and quite a lot of money. Forging letters from famous writers and selling them to bourgeois collectors just doesn’t have the glamour of say, the millions of dollars’ worth of stock fraud that the characters in The Wolf of Wall Street, or the danger of a hard-hitting Gangster film.
As we know Lee isn’t earning millions from her crimes, she’s only looking enough to pay the rent. The stakes just don’t feel that high.
Verdict
Can You Ever Forgive Me is definitely worth watching for its central performance, especially if you’re a fan of the leads and will hopefully give more deserved attention to the wonderful Richard E. Grant and encourage Melissa McCarthy to take on more dramatic roles of this type however its subject matter whilst interesting and almost quirky, doesn’t feel like it has the danger or the scandal that the latter half of the film tries to give it.
Mike McCourt (BanterFlix Contributor)
