Tammy is better than Identity Thief. That said, when you have me mentioning Identity Thief in the first sentence, you’re not doing yourself any favors.
Melissa McCarthy mines familiar territory, giving us yet another look at a white trash mess with the IQ of a houseplant. You can probably get all you need from the opening scene where Tammy (McCarthy) indulges the singing-to-the-radio thing (again), hits a buck thus trashing the car, and gets out of the car and sympathetically tends to the animal’s injuries by blowing a long-distance mouth-to-mouth. While this moment struck me as neither funny nor wise, I did have a modicum of empathy for Tammy, which is one more positive emotion than I had for McCarthy in all of Identity Thief.
Another key difference between Tammy and Thief is not every moment is handled with the tact of a bull in a Chinese 7-11. Just most of them. Post buck, Tammy is fired for being late at her fast food job and then comes home to discover hubby Greg (Nat Faxon) is fooling around with neighbor Toni Collette. (Oh, Toni, you’re so much better than this material … And why doesn’t she get any lines, people? Attention, real actress here!) Tammy retreats to her mom’s, two doors down (ok, that’s kinda cute), where we meet mom (Allison Janney) and grandma (Susan Sarandon).
Melissa is 43, Allison is 54, Susan is 68. I.e. none of that works. And it’s kind of embarrassing; I mean, it’s obvious that it doesn’t work. Melissa is too old for this part, the one she wrote for herself, and Susan is too young. But aside from that, sure, you got 
a winner. Tammy and grandma form an uneasy alliance built around grandma’s money which Tammy proceeds to blow almost immediately on a wrecked jet ski.
I’m not going to recount all the marvelous adventures of Tammy ‘n’ Nana as they hit the road in search of Niagara Falls. They get stopped, I’m guessing about 100 miles from where they started when Nana goes for some Viagra Falls, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo. It’s not as tasteless as it sounds – but the mere fact that I have to write that? Well. Sure. Enjoy that. Enjoy the moment where Tammy can’t place Mark Twain, yet knows to revere the Allman brothers. That’s right, in the eternal battle of Mark Twain v. Duane Allman, Duane is the winner hands down.
There’s still a part of me that believes in Melissa McCarthy. I think she knows how to tap into our sympathies. However, she spends so much time displaying her range as a comedic actress that she kinda misses the part where she needs an audience on her side. Right now, she really needs either smaller parts or a better director.
Tammy was loser
And, perhaps, a thief
Tammy found a neighbor
Had stolen her hunk of beef
Sue attached to Tammy
When she was in a squeeze
Then they pulled a poor woman’s
Thelma and Louise
Sue went to the Big House
Tammy fought release
Instead of patience, she became
A badass with a piece
Now Tammy’s tale of “laughter”
For all it’s plain to see
Her quips rated less than
Five on imdb
Rated R, 96 Minutes
D: Ben Falcone
W: Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone
Genre: Buddy road pic, except for the buddies and the road
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Ever had an impulse to rob a McDonald’s?
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The McCarthy intolerant
♪ Parody inspired by “Taffy was a Welshman”
