Tammy (DVD REVIEW)
Tammy
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Melissa McCarthy
Road Comedy Released on DVD
Melissa McCarthy
was apparently able to write her own ticket after winning an Emmy for her TV
sitcom Mike & Molly in 2011 and landing an Oscar nomination for Bridesmaids
in 2012. So, she used that leverage to greenlight a star vehicle where she
would not only portray the title character, Tammy, but get to make her
screenplay debut as well.
Keeping it all in the
family, Melissa had the studio hire her husband, Ben Falcone, to direct and
co-write the film, which might not have been a problem if it weren’t his first
time attempting either of those tasks. The upshot is that their ill-advised
collaboration has produced a raunchy road comedy with precious few laughs.
And in the process, the
picture squandered the services of an impressive ensemble that included Academy
Award-winners Susan Sarandon (for Dead Man Walking) and Kathy Bates (for
Misery), Oscar-nominees Toni Collette (for The Sixth Sense) and Dan Aykroyd
(for Driving Miss Daisy), and veteran thespians Allison Janney, Sandrah Oh and
Gary Cole. Unfortunately, the talented cast was abandoned by a cringe-inducing
script that proved more crass than funny.
As the film unfolds, we
find Tammy having one of those days. First, she totals her Toyota Corolla on
her way to a thankless job at a fast-food restaurant when a deer darts in front of the auto. Then, she’s fired
by her exasperated boss (Falcone) for arriving late for the umpteenth
time. On her way out the door, she launches into an expletive-laced tirade
during which she trashes the premises in front of the mortified staff and
customers.
Upon arriving home earlier than usual,
things go from bad to worse when Tammy catches her hubby (Nat Faxon) in the
midst of making whoopee with their next-door neighbor (Toni Collette). Shocked
and brokenhearted, she decides to take a break from her mess of a life, only to
realize she can’t even afford to leave town without any cash or a car.
Her grandmother, Pearl (Sarandon), agrees to subsidize Tammy’s
vacation as long as she can tag along for the ride, since her confining
retirement community feels like a prison for old people. The two soon set out
for Niagara Falls from their native Illinois, raising a ruckus at every
port-of-call along the way, whether jet skiing, over-imbibing, trading insults
(“Fat loser!” met with ”At least I didn’t sleep with my daughter’s husband!”),
picking up strangers at bars and diners (“Anybody want to screw my grandma?
Just buy her a drink!”), triggering pyrotechnic displays, landing in jail, or
crashing an all-lesbian barbecue on the 4th of July.
If only some of their sophomoric antics
were witty or amusing. A terminally-depraved escapade destined to disappoint
even diehard Melissa McCarthy fans.
Fair (1 star)
Rated
R for profanity and sexual references
Running
time: 96 minutes
Distributor:
Warner Home Entertainment Group
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Gag reel; extended cut; deleted scenes; Tammy’s Road Trip
Checklist; and fun extras.
To
see a trailer for Tammy, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B_GllcxpuI
To
order a copy of the Tammy Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:
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