Life of The Party

      There have been lots of really funny films about adults going back to college. This isn't one of them. It has a few good laughs but overall, it's not Melissa McCarthy's best work. As an actress, Ms. McCarthy improves with each film but co-writing this film with her husband, Ben Falcone (who also directed), she doesn't do herself any favors.

      It's an obvious attempt to cash in for Mother's Day with a plot that revolves around Ms. McCarthy's character, Deanna, going back to finish college where her daughter is a senior. Don't expect it to last much beyond Mother's Day in a theater. Like Deanna herself, the plot is just too nice and sweet with barely any edge. It forces conflict with the barest of "mean girls". 

     Most of the jokes fall flat and not enough is made of Ms. McCarthy's gift for physical humor (save for one scene in a classroom, that ends up more embarrassing than anything else). There are two funny sequences that ironically don't even take place at the college.

     The film features many comedic actors from television.  Matt Walsh (better on "Veep") plays Deanna's husband, Maya Rudolph plays her best friend (completely over the top as if trying to make the film funnier by herself), Julie Bowen (against type) as Deanna's eventual nemesis, Chris Parnell (underutilized), and Jimmy O. Yang (much funner on "Silicon Valley").

      A subplot involving a handsome college student infatuated with Deanna is not funny, just creepy. And in a last ditch effort to inject "life" into this party, there is a performance by Christina Aguilera performing her old hit,"Stronger"which is not exactly relevant anymore. More films like this and Ms. McCarthy will find herself in the same place...no longer relevant. Better scripts and different directors should be able to bring out her best work.