"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" is a bio-pic about author Lee Israel. As the movie opens, reminding is that it is "Based on a True Story", we are told it is "1991" and Lee fired from her job as an article editor of some sort. Lee attends a party hosted by her agent (who never calls her back). Lee soon leaves, but not before stealing a coat and some other things. Lee is 3 months behind in her rent, and out of sheer desperation, she sells a framed letter that Katherine Hepburn once wrote to her. Lee cannot believe her good fortune to fetch $175 for the letter... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from director Marielle Heller, who a few years ago brought us the brilliant coming-of-age movie "The Diary of a Teenage Girl". Here she goes in a very different direction, bringing to the big screen Lee Israel's memoir about her literary forgeries (making fake letters from famous people from back in the day). "I do a better Dorothy Parker than Dorothy Parker herself", she sneers. Along the way, we get to know Lee's personality, and let's just say that she isn't the easiest person. "I like cats better than I like people", she observes. A fair amount of the movie (conveniently disregarded entirely in the movie's trailer) shines light on Lee as a lesbian. As it happens, she also befriends Jack, a gay guy. If it sounds like there is a lot of sadness and loneliness in the movie, you'd be right, and none of this would be worth watching, but there comes Melissa McCarthy to the rescue. Smartly foregoing her 'default' starring role as the bratty and crude woman (Life of the Party; Spy; The Heat; Identity Thief, and on and on), here she plays what really amounts to a pitiful figure. Honestly, I don't know that McCarthy has ever been better than in this role. She single-handedly makes this movie worth watching. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she gets a Best Actress Oscar nomination for this role. Last but not least, there is a ton of great music in the film, both as to the original score (by Nate Heller) and as to the song placements (including Roxy Music's Same Old Scene, Paul Simon's Can't Run But, and Lou Reed's Goodnight Ladies, just to name those).
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" has been gradually expanding in theaters, and finally reached my art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (about 10 people). I can't really say that it surprised me there weren't more people there. I mean, this it not really a feel-good movie, au contraire... Nevertheless I'm glad I saw it, and if you have any interest in this story or are simply a fan of Melissa McCarthy, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from director Marielle Heller, who a few years ago brought us the brilliant coming-of-age movie "The Diary of a Teenage Girl". Here she goes in a very different direction, bringing to the big screen Lee Israel's memoir about her literary forgeries (making fake letters from famous people from back in the day). "I do a better Dorothy Parker than Dorothy Parker herself", she sneers. Along the way, we get to know Lee's personality, and let's just say that she isn't the easiest person. "I like cats better than I like people", she observes. A fair amount of the movie (conveniently disregarded entirely in the movie's trailer) shines light on Lee as a lesbian. As it happens, she also befriends Jack, a gay guy. If it sounds like there is a lot of sadness and loneliness in the movie, you'd be right, and none of this would be worth watching, but there comes Melissa McCarthy to the rescue. Smartly foregoing her 'default' starring role as the bratty and crude woman (Life of the Party; Spy; The Heat; Identity Thief, and on and on), here she plays what really amounts to a pitiful figure. Honestly, I don't know that McCarthy has ever been better than in this role. She single-handedly makes this movie worth watching. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she gets a Best Actress Oscar nomination for this role. Last but not least, there is a ton of great music in the film, both as to the original score (by Nate Heller) and as to the song placements (including Roxy Music's Same Old Scene, Paul Simon's Can't Run But, and Lou Reed's Goodnight Ladies, just to name those).
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" has been gradually expanding in theaters, and finally reached my art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (about 10 people). I can't really say that it surprised me there weren't more people there. I mean, this it not really a feel-good movie, au contraire... Nevertheless I'm glad I saw it, and if you have any interest in this story or are simply a fan of Melissa McCarthy, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.