class=”aligncenter size-medium wp-image-223074″ src=”https://www.heyuguys.com/images/2014/07/404850-316ddca2-9535-11e3-831f-628faee552fc-585×350.jpg” alt=”tammy” width=”585″ height=”350″ />There’s nothing like watching a good, old-fashioned road trip movie on the big screen. From Sideways to Easy Rider to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, it’s a genre that has thrown up several classics across the past few decades. However sadly the same can’t quite be said of Tammy, with Melissa McCarthy starring as the title role in her husband Ben Falcone’s directorial debut.
The very same day Tammy is sacked from her job at a fast food chain, she returns home to find her husband with another woman. She instantly storms over to her mother’s (Allison Janney) house to pick up her grandmother Pearl’s (Susan Sarandon) car to drive away and clear her head. The problem is, Pearl is adamant she tags along, and so Tammy sets off towards Niagara Falls with her alcoholic grandma, stopping off at their relative Lenore’s (Kathy Bates) en route.
While bearing similarities to last year’s comedy The Guilt Trip, starring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, this is less accomplished a piece, remaining frustratingly archetypal of the genre at hand, seemingly afraid of trying anything new or unique. Then when the viewer is seeking conventionality, Falcone doesn’t deliver either, as we hope for a more traditional pairing between our protagonists, as we’re missing the ‘straight’ role to counteract the more quirky character. In this instance they’re both a little offbeat and we’re never quite sure who is supposed to be keeping who in check. With comedy partnerships, from Laurel and Hardy to Father Ted and Dougal – there’s always one that, at the very least, believes they’re the intelligent one, and this frustratingly deviates away from such a notion.
The film actually comes into its element when it becomes somewhat more emotional and dramatic, as there’s a tragic undertone to this, with two heavily flawed characters at the heart of the tale. Ultimately, both Tammy and Pearl are unhappy, lonely protagonists, with the latter a chronic alcoholic. Yet Falcone can be accused of brushing it aside in turn for comedy, which wouldn’t be a problem if this piece was genuinely funny , yet sadly it falls at such a hurdle. It’s something of a waste of McCarthy’s talent, as when the more intense sequences come into play she shines, and displays a vulnerable side to her demeanour, yet given the continuing shift of tone, we don’t truly have the chance to see her full dramatic potential.
This just doesn’t feel like enough of a challenge for McCarthy, as she plays a character not too far removed from those she inhabited in films such as Identity Thief and The Heat; someone unabashed and quite volatile, who eventually realises the error of her ways and finds her heart. The supporting performances by Bates and Sarandon are commendable though, yet their talents are wasted in a picture that unfortunately misfires.
