Life of the Party is another movie in the genre of parents going back to school comedies and this time Melissa McCarthy tries her shot at it. I think she’s been on a somewhat losing streak with her recent movies and this is another one that doesn’t make the grade.
McCarthy stars as a newly divorced mother who decides to reenlist in college and get her degree in archaeology. The film’s premise is already a big stretch by this point. Making matters better or worse, she decides to enlist in the same classes as her daughter (Molly Gordon) and she’s not too thrilled about the idea.
McCarthy who plays Deanna Miles tries to be as optimistic and positive to everyone around her including her daughter and eventually she wins out by being invited to all the hottest parties on campus and even joining a sorority. She also gives friendly advice to her fellow sisters in the areas of dating.
As much as McCarthy tries to make the material work, both she and her husband/director Ben Falcone have concocted a script that seems far too derivative and most of the humor comes off as lazy, sloppy, or simply uninspired. McCarthy has proven she has exceptional comedic chops and a great degree of spunk in roles where the material doesn’t upstage her. See Bridesmaids and/or Spy for definitive evidence. Here, those chops are barely existent.
This film is ultimately too bland and inconsequential to justify its existence. McCarthy can be cool. Just not for school.
Grade: C-
(Rated PG-13 for sexual material, drug content, and partying.)
