Let’s face it, we were all expecting Identity Thief to be the comedy of the summer. I mean, Jason Bateman’s in it, right? And the brilliant Melissa McCarthy. And a whole host of great supporting folks. Well, sorry to say….
Diana (McCarthy) is a conwoman who steals the identity of struggling family man, Sandy (Bateman). When he’s about to lose his job and the cops can’t help, he travels to Florida to bring her back to Colorado. What he doesn’t realise is not only that she’s really, really unpleasant, but there’s also a psychotic bail bondsman and a couple of mobster hit men on her tail. Thus arises the most ill-fated road trip since Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Really, I don’t know what was wrong with it, except it just wasn’t that funny. Or warm. Or generous. The sexual humour was gross, and it felt a bit misanthropic, actually, as if the filmmakers didn’t really like anybody – certainly not the characters, probably not the audience, maybe not all of humankind…… I exaggerate with sheer disappointment. To add insult to Colorado’s injury, Identity Thief filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.