Rotten Tomatoes
Identity Thief's few laughs are attributable to Melissa McCarthy and
Jason Bateman, who labor mightily to create a framework for the movie's
undisciplined plotline.
Entertainment Weekly
The story is about as subtle as a Florida
theme park. Finding his life in shambles and tracing the destruction to
her door, Sandy (benefiting from a full dose of Bateman's patented
contained exasperation) heads south to drag Diana to justice. And that's
where everything I said earlier about McCarthy meets its first
challenge: There are no pauses in this hectic madcappery, not for a
minute. So there's barely an opportunity for the star to modulate her
energy. Even during more tender moments, she's working her butt off. The
fault, I think, isn't in our stars but in the script, running up a huge
comedy tab the likable players can't pay off.
Huffington Post
But the biggest shame in all of this is that while Bateman is adequate
at playing the exasperated straight man, McCarthy really shines as a
career thief who spends her loot trying to get people to like her, which
could be a potentially fascinating character.
Identity Thief
is McCarthy's first starring role in a major movie, and while the script
and story suck, she not only owns the screen while showing her
impressive physical and improvisational comedic talents, but that she's
also capable of some great acting and is more than able to pull off more
serious dramatic roles. But by no means is that a good enough reason to
see
Identity Thief, a movie so dumb you'll wonder how characters like this could've survived into adulthood.
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