"Tammy" is everything I did and didn't expect. The few trailers promised an unapologetic, raunchy road trip, but under the surface lies drama, with more tragedy and introspection than pratfalls and f-bombs. Does it work all the time? I don't even think it works half the time, but regardless, I give props to director/writer duo Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone for crafting a strange little flick that feels equal parts familiar and unique.
McCarthy stars as the titular character whose life gone to shambles plays out like Mouse Trap: the deer hits the car, the car makes her late for work, the lateness leads to a termination of employment, and the termination gives her just enough time to catch her husband cheating with the next door neighbor. Hurt and betrayed, she sets off with her grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon) on a road trip to Niagara Falls to clear her head and find a fresh start.
Tammy is the most clear-cut version of the persona McCarthy has created over the years: a boisterous, combative exterior with a vulnerable interior. She can rage about egotistical managers and the quality of fast food meat with the best of them, but when confronting an unfaithful spouse, trying not to cry, it's hard for me not to do the same.
For all the swearing and aggression, Tammy is innocent. As she approaches men in a bar or robs a fast food restaurant wearing a greasy paper bag (the only proper substitute for a ski mask, am I right?), she does so in the same way a teenager tries to seem "cool" when every expression reveals she's in over her head. Tammy is a simple person with simple emotional reactions, and the movie tracks her progress as she strengthens her emotional intelligence. While this is novel commentary advocating the importance of such skills, Tammy's innocence doesn't translate well to comedy. McCarthy's persona feels diluted, and numerous jokes fall flat.
As a counter to Tammy's innocence, Grandma Pearl is a ball of fire. With beer and scotch in hand, Susan Sarandon breathes life into every scene she's in. She's clearly having fun, shutting down non-muscled dudes in muscle shirts, sparking a one-night stand with a bar patron, performing the Allman Brothers Band's "Midnight Rider", jutting her chin out to catch the low notes. In a movie with little surprises, Sarandon throws me for a loop all the way through: the cause for most of my laughs throughout. Simply put, she steals the show.
Kathy Bates also excels as Lenore, Pearl's cousin, who likes wizards, knows how to dispose of evidence, throws a rocking lesbian Fourth of July party, and partakes in the simple delight of blowing stuff up. (Truth be told, as I reread this sentence, I have to wonder what McCarthy and Falcone's brainstorming sessions consisted of, and what, if anything, was left out.)
"Tammy" is, at best, hit and miss, with more misses than hits. Its worst crime? Aside from the movie's bookends, the comedy is tame. Where Aykroyd and Belushi would push energy all the way through, McCarthy stops the story for awkward, drawn-out conversation. I wouldn't completely dismiss it; Bates and Sarandon delight and Tammy's odyssey towards maturation is kindly handled. I respect the film's off-kilter feel more than I enjoy it; at least it's a break from the "22 Jump Street" and "Neighbors" frat-boy camp. Fans of McCarthy will like it; but I recommend at least waiting until cable picks it up.
Thanks for reading; I'm the Man Without A Plan, signing off.
"Tammy" trailer:
(Author's note: as seen by the graphic above, I have developed a rating system, based off of 6 stars. The system goes as follows:
1 Star - Hate
2 Stars - Dislike
3 Stars - O.K.
4 Stars - Like
5 Stars - Love
6 Stars - The highest of high praise I can give: The Alpha Rating.
The decision to start a rating system is the product of analyzing other critics whom start their reviews with the score. After the reader gets a general idea of the critic's opinion, the writer extrapolates on their ideas, allowed to venture off into other schools of thought, free from having the entire piece be a justification for a rating.)
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