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Identity Thief is neither as gut-bustingly funny as it should have been nor as bad as it's been made out to be. Directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and written by Craig Mazin (The Hangover: Part II), the movie is fundamentally a comedic showcase for its two leads: sublime straight man Jason Bateman and up-and-coming comedy dynamo Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids). Although the flick has a few good laughs here and there, it's an aggressively forgettable affair, with its simple premise becoming overcomplicated and overextended. It's not that the movie is bad per se; it's just lazy, and flawed scripting often spoils the fun.
A happy family man who finally catches a major career break, Sandy Patterson (Bateman) finds his life turned upside down when his identity is stolen by Florida resident Diana (McCarthy), who racks up thousands of dollars of debt in Sandy's name. When Sandy's job is threatened as a result of Diana's activities, he has no choice but to go after the criminal himself, especially with the police proving to be of little help. Leaving his wife (Amanda Peet) and daughters behind, Sandy flies from his Denver home to Florida, hoping to find the scam artist and convince her to return home with him to face the music. Diana doesn't plan to go down without a fight or three, but she finds herself teaming up with Sandy when she's pursued by a pair of criminal enforcers (Genesis Rodriguez and T.I.) and a skiptracer (Robert Patrick).
Identity Thief runs too long at around 110 minutes, with Mazin and Gordon padding out the simple premise with unnecessary sub-plots that spoil the fun. The story threads of the enforcers and the bounty hunter ultimately lead nowhere, only proving to be a perfunctory obstacle popping up at inconvenient times for the protagonists. Plus, at one stage, Sandy engages in illegal activities with Diana, which takes the story to unnecessarily dark places and puts Sandy in the grey area of morality. The beauty of Planes, Trains & Automobiles is its simplicity and momentum, and it runs a brisk 90 minutes. By comparison, Identity Thief just keeps going and going, and the plot complications cause more frustrations than laughs. It's too callous and heavy-handed. Worse, Mazin's screenplay has no plausible underpinnings supporting it - it presents questionable depictions of how police detectives operate, how the corporate world works, and the operations of credit card agencies. Nothing rings true; it feels like a pure fantasy, and the film assumes we're too ignorant to realise the difference. And Diana steals Sandy's identity using the oldest scam trick in the book; only an idiot would fall for it.
Although there are a few quality laughs here and there, Identity Thief ultimately comes up short in the comedy department. Many of the jokes either fall flat or are completely witless, relying purely on crude dialogue to get laughs. One especially awful recurring joke is characters constantly referencing the fact that Sandy is a woman's name. I guess none of the characters have heard of Sandy Collins or Sandy Koufax. Hence, when everyone makes snide comments about Sandy's name, it seems forced and ignorant. To his credit, Gordon does an admirable job of steering the picture between the comedic and the dramatic, exhibiting a degree of heart that feels surprisingly earned. Nevertheless, the ethics behind Identity Thief are questionable, asking us to sympathise with Diana due to her troubled history. Mazin's script tries to make excuses for blatant criminal behaviour, which doesn't sit right. I mean, Diana's fraudulent activities destroy lives; just because she had a rough upbringing doesn't mean she can be forgiven for stealing thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Although McCarthy has featured in films and television shows for over a decade, her breakout role in 2011's Bridesmaids catapulted the actress into the spotlight. And for good reason; she's on fire here, denoting one of the biggest strengths of Identity Thief that keep the film watchable throughout its rougher patches. She nails the humorous aspects of the character, and she handles the dramatic elements skilfully as well. As for Bateman, he simply plays Jason Bateman, the proverbial straight man. While Bateman doesn't exactly stretch his abilities here, he's always an amiable and believable presence on-screen. The coupling of Bateman and McCarthy is a brilliant one, which is why it's such a shame that the material doesn't serve them better.
With a talented comedic director at the helm and a pair of capable comic leads, Identity Thief had the potential to be the comedy highlight of 2013. Instead, it's mildly amusing from time to time but ultimately underwhelming and rarely outright hilarious. The movie will probably please the target market, though, who come looking for an easy-going, switch-off-your-brain comedy. But it will be forgotten almost immediately, whereas classic comedies like Planes, Trains & Automobiles are still remembered decades on.
5.7/10
