Identity Thief – Movie Review
Director: Seth Gordon
Writer: Craig Mazin (Screenplay) Jerry Eeten (Story)
Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, John Cho, Amanada Peet, Jon Favreau, T.I. Genesis Rodriguez
Plot: Mild mannered businessman Sandy Patterson travels from Denver to Florida to confront the deceptively harmless looking woman who has been living it up after stealing Sandy’s identity.
Tagline – Is this the face of a thief?
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Identity Thief starts when businessman Sandy Patterson (Bateman) sees himself take a big risk with a new job. Only to find himself needing to deal with the reality his identity has been stolen by a woman Diana (McCarthy) in Florida.
With his credit score now shot and a police investigation to his name. Sandy decides to head to Florida to find the woman who has stolen his identity to prove his innocence in everything. Only for the pair to need to take a road trip back to Denver, where we learn the truth about why Diana is committing the crimes in the first place.
Thoughts on Identity Thief
Identity Thief is a comedy that will a mild-mannered businessman that must turn into a bounty hunter to track down the person who stole his identity. Which will see the unlikely pair need to travel across America to prove he isn’t involved in the identity theft. This is a story that wants to play heavily on the idea that Diana needs some help and just a friend to help them through life. Which they have always struggled for.
The story does fall into the problems of comedy, with most being way too over the top for the idea, moving more into an unlikely buddy movie. When there would be no way the two would ever work together. Jason Bateman does well with the type of character you can always see him playing. Melissa McCarthy is always feeling too noisy for the film, only shining in the serious sides of the story.
Final Thoughts – Identity Thief is a comedy lacking the laughs despite trying to give a more serious story.