Can You Ever Forgive Me? review: Melissa McCarthy shines in melancholic tale

Director Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? takes on the true story of Lee Israel with wit and sympathy, aided by Melissa McCarthy’s stellar performance.

Melissa McCarthy has solidified herself as a comedic force with movies like Spy, The Heat and her Oscar-nominated turn in Bridesmaids, but her performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me? allows the actor to dig deep within the soul of the character and bring out new layers through her performance.

McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, a once-prominent author known for writing biographies that found her a home on The New York Times bestseller list. At the onset of the movie, Israel’s life isn’t going so great. Despite her enormous talent and previous acclaim, she can’t seem to get published to save her life.

She stomps into a party thrown by her editor (Jane Curtin) in an act of desperation for any kind of response from her. On top of that, she can’t pay her rent, spends most her day sipping whiskey and her beloved cat needs medical attention she cannot afford.

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Lee crosses paths (sitting at a bar, of course) with the wildly eccentric Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant), who seems to love every minute of his life but has his share of personal issues. These wayward individuals start of a friendship that gives Can You Ever Forgive Me? its piercing, biting humor as the two exchange barbs with each other.

The movie is only part mismatched buddy comedy because it mostly focuses on the way in which Israel decides she is going to make a living. After finding a rare literary letter – and figuring out people are willing to pay for them – she starts forging personal letters from an array of famous people. Once she realizes she has a bit of a business going, Jack becomes a partner in her crime.

Directed by Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and adapted from Israel’s memoir by Nicole Holofcener, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a rich character study of a gifted but, at most turns, unlikable person.

Israel doesn’t give much thought to those in her orbit (except her cat, of course) and even when she begins her friendship with Jack, she is always cautious. Israel’s guard is always up because she is afraid to let people in to the point of always coming off as unpleasant.

Heller is a smart filmmaker because she isn’t interested in indicting Israel for her bad behavior or criminal activity. Can You Ever Forgive Me? allows a nuanced portrait into one woman’s fractured life, allowing us to see what made her tick and why she felt the need to appear so closed-off. McCarthy gives her best performance yet, finding so much life within a character who feels otherwise lifeless in her daily routine.

Parts of Can You Ever Forgive Me? can feel sluggish or even repetitive but Heller and McCarthy infuse such interest and wit into a rather melancholic tale.

Rating: 7 (out of 10)

Can You Ever Forgive Me? is in selected theaters October 19.