Life of the Party

The latest collaboration between Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, Life of the Party follows McCarthy’s Deanna as she enrolls in her daughter’s (Molly Gordon’s Maddie) college in the wake of an unexpected divorce. It’s perhaps not surprising to discover that Life of the Party, much like Falcone’s previous two features, 2014’s Tammy and 2016’s The Boss, suffers from a decidedly bland sensibility that’s reflected in its various attributes, and there’s little doubt that the movie’s somewhat generic atmosphere paves the way for a hit-and-miss midsection that’s increasingly more miss than hit. McCarthy and Falcone’s sitcom-like screenplay emphasizes the episodic exploits of the various (admittedly one-dimensional) characters, and although the narrative boasts a small handful of entertaining (and even funny) moments (eg Deanna reacts poorly to a sorority paddling), Life of the Party‘s momentum is, as a result, virtually non-existent and it becomes more and more difficult to genuinely care about the protagonist’s hackneyed journey. It helps, then, that Falcone has assembled an impressively strong cast that generally allays the somewhat mediocre screenplay, with the movie benefiting substantially from the efforts of such periphery players as Gillian Jacobs, Maya Rudolph, Chris Parnell, and Stephen Root. (McCarthy herself is good here, to be sure, though the role isn’t exactly a stretch for the often one-note actress.) By the time the tedious let’s-throw-a-big-party-to-raise-money finale rolls around, Life of the Party has confirmed its place as a perpetually underwhelming comedy that hopefully marks the end of McCarthy and Falcone’s cinematic partnership.

** out of ****