Viewed – 09 April 2015  Netflix 

Hot off the success of her star-making turn in Bridesmaids, comedienne Melissa McCarthy plays Diane, a woman who steals people’s identities.  One such unsuspecting victim is Sandy (Jason Bateman) who’s life quickly spirals out of control when debts wrack up in his name.  In an attempt to reclaim his identity he chooses to track Diane down in a hope of bringing the woman to justice – but doesn’t bank on the heap of trouble that comes with her.

This was a fun movie.  I had heard about it and the rather ‘meh’ reviews that followed so didn’t exactly jump at the idea of seeing it, but hell – sometimes I like an easy going comedy if I’ve had a stressful week, and this fit the bill nicely.  What I wasn’t expecting was just how funny and likable Melissa McCarthy is – who for me wasn’t the sole reason Bridesmaids was so damn good.  She handles slapstick, a motor-mouth persona and more than matches a very enjoyable Jason Bateman as the everyman nice guy (sort of his thing these days) on a roller-coaster road trip from Florida to Denver chased by a duo of hit men and a bounty hunter (a great appearance from an almost Terminator-like Robert Patrick).

The jokes aren’t exactly stunners and it relies a bit too much on McCarthy’s prat-falls and I’ll admit her wild antics sometimes fell short (was that the un-funniest sex scene ever?).  The hit men (or should that be hit man and hit woman) were also glaringly under-developed and even a cameo from Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks shed no light on just why they were after Diane.  That being said, McCarthy & Bateman made for a very enjoyable pairing and I for one had a good time in their company.  Worth seeing.

Verdict:  3 /5