Life of the Party re-thought

Life of the Party is not a terrible movie. It is bad though. I am going to try to explain why it is bad without comparing it to Back to School. (I might love Back to School, so those comparisons are unfair even if those films have certain plot similarities.)

Melissa McCarthy plays a divorced woman who goes back to college, the same college her daughter is attending. I think Life of the Party could benefit from a stronger central plot. Or perhaps the movie needs larger stakes. The movie does not feel urgent or compelling. It is low key.

It is very much a showcase for Melissa McCarthy and there is nothing wrong with that. It does mean that the rest of the cast is there to support her. Sort of like the rest of the cast is there to support Jim Carrey in some of his movies.

This film is bad but not terrible. There are some nice moments here and there. It is long (maybe if it were a bit shorter it might be a little better), there is not a strong plot, and I think McCarthy can make better movies. Maybe she should not co-write her movies, it seems that some of her better regarded movies are the ones she doesn’t co-write.

This movie is not as bad as Baywatch for example.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/life-of-the-party-2018
This review is good and I think gets to the flaws of the film better than I do.

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