'Tammy' Review: Melissa McCarthy And Susan Sarandon Form A Comedic Dream Team

Though it may not live up to Bridesmaids status (what does?), Tammy is a decently funny movie with a serious plotline attached to it. Star Melissa McCarthy always delivers as the foul-mouthed tough girl with a soft side. Moviegoers may feel Tammy could have contained more comedy, but they should commend McCarthy’s acting and writing. McCarthy and her husband and director, Ben Falcone, wrote the movie together and both appeared in the movie with McCarthy as the main character and Falcone in a small role as the Fast Food Manager.

In the beginning of the movie, Tammy’s car breaks down, she loses her job at a fast food restaurant and then she finds out her husband is cheating on her with the neighbor. This springs Tammy into an enraged tantrum and she decides she wants to leave her hometown, as she does every time she’s upset. Tammy’s grandmother, shockingly played by Susan Sarandon, offers her money and the use of her car in return for taking her along for the ride. Tammy and her grandma get into all sorts of shenanigans; they meet men at a bar, wreck a jetski and get arrested, which motivates Tammy to rob a fast food restaurant in order to get bail money for her grandma.

As the two travel across the country, Tammy learns of her grandmother’s alcoholism. Sarandon makes the audience laugh many times with her funny lines delivered between sips of beer, like when she tells teenagers she’ll buy them beer in exchange for a ride. Tammy fights the teens off hilariously, telling them she hopes the boy takes bath salts and eats his girlfriend’s face off. However, granny’s alcoholism takes a serious turn later in the movie and she hits rock bottom when she gets on the microphone at a Fourth of July party at the house of couple Leanor and Susan (played by Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh), flashes the crowd and calls her granddaughter a fat loser. At this point, Tammy takes an unexpected route and the movie focuses on the serious theme of how substance abuse affects families and loved ones.

The best aspect of Tammy is McCarthy’s ability to give a great comedic performance while giving the audience insight into the horrible world of alcoholism. Though moviegoers may not have expected to see such a serious note in a McCarthy/Falcone written film, it was a pleasant surprise. I left the movie happy that McCarthy could still be one of the funniest comedians today and make the audience howl in laughter in a movie with such a serious undertone.

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