Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

  I was late to the Melissa McCarthy lovefest.  I didn't like Bridesmaids and movies like Identity Thief, The Heat, and Tammy just looked too stupid for me to enjoy.  Ghostbusters:  Answer the Call was the first time I actually found her watchable and that was mainly superseded by how much I hated Kristen Wiig.  However, if she does more movies like Can You Ever Forgive Me?, I might have to revise my opinion.


Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) has fallen on hard times after publishing a couple of well-received biographies.  The market taste has shifted, writers like Tom Clancy (Kevin Carolan) are making millions by churning out the same formula, and Lee is too set in her ways to be anything but embittered.  Desperate for money to pay for her sick cat's treatment, Lee accidentally discovers the lucrative world of personal correspondence memorabilia.  She begins forging letters from renowned literary celebrities like Dorothy Parker, Fanny Brice, and Noel Coward, selling them to collectors, and drinking the profits with her friend, Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant). 


McCarthy seems like she was born to play this role, imbuing the crass and socially awkward Israel with enough sympathy to keep viewers rooting for her to succeed in her criminal endeavors.


This is very much Oscar bait and will most likely be unfortunately consigned to the scrap heap of other prestige dramas but it is very much worth your eyeballs.