From the onset this film is hilarious. Diana (Melissa McCarthy) starts a tab at a Miami bar. The credit card reads: Sandy Patterson. On the other side of the country, Denver, the real Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is worried his annual bonus check has been cancelled. He has a wife (Amanda Peet) pregnant with their third
child. Last month they saved $14.03 in the family budget. Back to McCarthy as Patterson, she’s having a high ole time. New car, new manicure,new blue eye shadow, but somehow she’s vulnerable, lonely, harboring some secret. We sympathize with her. And that’s a good thing. But when the real Sandy Patterson (Bateman) discovers she’s swiped his Identity, he somehow sympathizes with her, too, and that’s a bad thing.
When a series of events force him to chase her to Miami, he never gets angry. And that too is a bad thing. When they end up on a roadtrip together,
we want some of that contained Bradley Cooper – that annoyed and could-explode-at-any-moment guy from The Hangover, that tension created between him and his chubby nemesis, Zach Galifianikis. But that just ain’t happening here.
The movie has some funny moments, and McCarthy carries it. It’s as good as it can be, but that’s not good enough. In all Bateman’s calm temperament one can’t
help but ask “Has he forgotten she’s stolen his entire identity? Causing him years of nightmares?!” In the end, this story feels like Planes, Trains & Automobiles without the anger and the humor. One and a half tiaras