Tuesday, February 12 2013, 05:35 PM MST
Box Office: Recommended Films February 8 - 14, 2013
Recommended films showing in Salt Lake City for the week of February 8 – 14, 2013
Mainstream
1. Zero Dark Thirty (R)
2. Lincoln (PG-13)
3. Silver Linings Playbook (R)
4. Warm Bodies (PG-13)
5. Les Miserables (PG-13)
Family
1. Frankenweenie (PG)
2. Life of Pi (PG)
3. Rise of the Guardians (PG)
4. Wreck-It Ralph (PG)
5. ParaNorman (PG)
Art House
1. Argo (R)
2. Rust and Bone (R)
3. The Impossible (PG-13)
4. The Sessions (R)
5. Quartet (PG-13)
Identity Thief
2 out of 5 Stars
Director • Seth Gordon
Starring • Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy and John Co
Rated • R
Recommended to • Fans of mean-spirited comedy that misfires more often than it hits.
Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is an underpaid family man who is forced to travel to Florida to abduct the woman (Melissa McCarhty) who has stolen his identity to keep from losing his job.
I’m not going to bother pointing out all the illogical plot devices that are used in “Identity Thief.” The film clearly wasn’t made to out think its audience; it was made to make them laugh. Is it successful? Yes, and a whole lot of no. There have been dozens of road trip films and most of them involve a variation on the “Odd Couple” theme. The problem is for every “The Muppet Movie” or “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” you get a dozen or two films that range from mediocre to unbearable. “Identity Thief” is unlikely to make anyone’s top ten list in anything; it does have a shot at making a few bottom ten lists. Like “Horrible Bosses,” director Seth Gordon’s previous film, most of the humor in “Identity Thief” is mean spirited. It’s more rude and insensitive than it is clever and while this does still draw a few laughs it makes for an awkward and often uncomfortable way to spend two hours. Of course Craig Mazin’s screenplay does offer up a sugarcoated ending to keep audiences from leaving the theater with a bad taste in their mouths. Yes, Bateman is charming and McCarthy is vulgar in that charming girl-next-door sort of way, but both could give these sort of performance without rolling out of bed.
If you thought “The Hangover Part II” was original or that “Horrible Bosses” was hysterical you might find some enjoyment in “Identity Thief.” I personally wish Gordon would go back to making documentaries.
(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.)
Mainstream
1. Zero Dark Thirty (R)
2. Lincoln (PG-13)
3. Silver Linings Playbook (R)
4. Warm Bodies (PG-13)
5. Les Miserables (PG-13)
Family
1. Frankenweenie (PG)
2. Life of Pi (PG)
3. Rise of the Guardians (PG)
4. Wreck-It Ralph (PG)
5. ParaNorman (PG)
Art House
1. Argo (R)
2. Rust and Bone (R)
3. The Impossible (PG-13)
4. The Sessions (R)
5. Quartet (PG-13)
Identity Thief
2 out of 5 Stars
Director • Seth Gordon
Starring • Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy and John Co
Rated • R
Recommended to • Fans of mean-spirited comedy that misfires more often than it hits.
Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is an underpaid family man who is forced to travel to Florida to abduct the woman (Melissa McCarhty) who has stolen his identity to keep from losing his job.
I’m not going to bother pointing out all the illogical plot devices that are used in “Identity Thief.” The film clearly wasn’t made to out think its audience; it was made to make them laugh. Is it successful? Yes, and a whole lot of no. There have been dozens of road trip films and most of them involve a variation on the “Odd Couple” theme. The problem is for every “The Muppet Movie” or “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” you get a dozen or two films that range from mediocre to unbearable. “Identity Thief” is unlikely to make anyone’s top ten list in anything; it does have a shot at making a few bottom ten lists. Like “Horrible Bosses,” director Seth Gordon’s previous film, most of the humor in “Identity Thief” is mean spirited. It’s more rude and insensitive than it is clever and while this does still draw a few laughs it makes for an awkward and often uncomfortable way to spend two hours. Of course Craig Mazin’s screenplay does offer up a sugarcoated ending to keep audiences from leaving the theater with a bad taste in their mouths. Yes, Bateman is charming and McCarthy is vulgar in that charming girl-next-door sort of way, but both could give these sort of performance without rolling out of bed.
If you thought “The Hangover Part II” was original or that “Horrible Bosses” was hysterical you might find some enjoyment in “Identity Thief.” I personally wish Gordon would go back to making documentaries.
(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.)
