Tammy

Having catapulted to stardom in Bridesmaids and other films, Melissa McCarthy has enough clout within the industry to co-write, produce, and star in what is—unfortunately—a tiresome, tedious, and ridiculously contrived comedy that was made with her husband, director Ben Falcone. Once again, McCarthy plays a brash, trash-talking woman whose arrogance conceals her vulnerability and need for love and acceptance. Disheveled Tammy is not having a good day: after crashing her car into a deer, she's fired from her job at a greasy fast-food restaurant, and goes home to find her husband (Nat Faxon) romancing their next-door neighbor (Toni Collette). Furious, Tammy packs her bag and marches off to tell her mother (Allison Janney) that she's leaving town. But Tammy has neither money nor wheels—until Grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon) offers her own car and more than $6,000 in cash. As angry, aggressive Tammy and her alcoholic, diabetic, promiscuous grandma drive from Illinois toward Niagara Falls, a wrong turn lands them in Missouri. Their frustrating encounters with men (Gary Cole, Mark Duplass) are so wretchedly underwritten that there is genuine relief when they arrive at a Fourth of July party, hosted by grandma's wealthy lesbian cousin (Kathy Bates) and the latter's partner (Sandra Oh), where Tammy unloads her emotional baggage and tries to reconcile years of rejection and resentment. Neither funny nor credible, this is not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a gag reel (4 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are three “Fun Extras” outtakes (6 min.), a “Tammy's Road Trip Checklist” featuring star Melissa McCarthy and husband director Ben Falcone (5 min.), deleted scenes (5 min.), and bonus DVD and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an awful would-be comedy.] (S. Granger)