LIFE OF THE PARTY DVD (2018)




SYNOPSIS: When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna (McCarthy) turns regret into re-set by going back to college…landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who’s not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna—now Dee Rock—embraces freedom, fun and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Melissa McCarthy can be ridiculously hilarious as a supporting/co-star. Just check out BridesmaidsThe Heat and personal favourite, Spy. But when left to headline an entire movie on her own, it’s another matter altogether. Remember Tammy and The Boss

McCarthy reunites with her actor-director husband, Ben Falcone for the third time in Life of the Party in which they also co-wrote the story. Well, third time’s a charm, right? 

Sad to say, Life of the Party smells as bad as a cup of overnight coffee. Deprived of any decent humor and gags, it dreadfully plods along for close to two hours with McCarthy obviously failing to salvage a flimsy script about mid-life crisis and female empowerment. 

As Deanna (McCarthy) and her husband, Dan (Matt Walsh) is dropping their only daughter to university, Deanna is informed by Dan that he wants a divorce as he has fallen for somebody else. Instead of feeling depressed, she decides to go on living her life by earning a degree in archaeology, enrolling in the same university as her daughter. While at the university, Deanna begins to find value in her once monotonous life again by being a mentor to the friends of her daughter and hooking up with a much attractive younger man.   

Life of the Party in short is a mellow version of a rowdy slapstick college comedy. It attempts to be cool and informative but turned out short at every corner. There are hardly any significant plot developments and simply too much repetitive jokes about Deanna making out with her new-found boyfriend and rivalry with a couple of mean girls although there’s a pretty funny dinner scene when Deanna bumped into her ex and his new partner. 

And even though McCarthy is surrounded by a bunch of funny bit players liked Walsh and Maya Rudolph who played her best friend, the comedy simply doesn’t work in the first place. Either McCarthy needs to ditch her husband or she needs to find a better script, this for sure isn’t the life of the party. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Cast and crew talks about the movie’s party scene in 80’s Party

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The English 5.1 surround sound gets the job done with a decent mix of music, dialogue and effects. Colours and skin tones are natural for a DVD presentation.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Comedy
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Gillian Jacobs, Maya Rudolph, Debby Ryan, Julie Bowen, Molly Gordon, Matt Walsh, Stephen Root, Jacki Weaver, Jessie Ennis, Adria Arjona, Jimmy O. Yang
Director: Ben Falcone
Rating: NC-16 (Some Drug References)
Year Made: 2018
Website: www.facebook.com/LifeOfThePartyMovie

 SPECIAL FEATURES

- 80's Party

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/French/Espanol
Subtitles: English/French/Espanol
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Region Code: 1