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Can You Ever Forgive Me? stars Melissa McCarthy in a drama… yes, a drama! Hopefully this marks a change in direction, since all her comedies tend to drift into one another.
The film tells the true story of bestselling celebrity biographer (and friend to cats) Lee Israel (McCarthy), who made her living in the ’70s and ’80s profiling the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E Grant).
It looks a pretty decent film and, sometimes, when you’re sick of someone making comedies, a drama can be that perfect turning point. I always cite the example of after Lenny Henry stopping being funny when the ’80s ended, but in the ’90s, he made the dramas Alive and Kicking and the series, Hope and Glory, as well as more recently starring in Broadchurch.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? is released in the Us on October 19th, but as of yet there’s no UK date.
Director: Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)
Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener, Lee Israel, Jeff Whitty
Also stars: Anna Deavere Smith, Alice Kremelberg, Julie Ann Emery, Joanna Adler, Marc Evan Jackson, Christian Navarro, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jane Curtin
Check out the trailer below:
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.