As a number of distributors try to take advantage of Mother’s Day weekend, studios are rolling out their best maternal fare. Last week saw the wide release of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody’s “Tully,” wherein Charlize Theron plays a burned-out mom. Coming soon is the home invasion thriller “Breaking In,” in which Gabrielle Union must protect her kids from white intruders. And on the funnier side, Melissa McCarthy is offering “Life of the Party,” a comedy about a mother who attends the same college as her daughter following her unexpected divorce. The film, though delightfully wholesome at heart, is ultimately too bland to satisfy.
“Life of the Party” is a fish-out-of-water story in the same vein as “The House Bunny” as Deanna, who starts off the film in a baby pink “proud mom” sweater and too-curled hair, tries to fit in with her millennial peers. Though she’s determined to ace her second try at a degree, Deanna’s pretty much game—or, as she says, “down to clown”—for anything else. She gets blasted at parties with her daughter, hooks up with a college guy, and even goes on a weed bark bender. Beneath all the layers of a mid-life crisis, though, Deanna is still a loving mom.
One of the strongest aspects of the film is that, despite a makeover and some cool Gen-Y pals, Deanna stays self-assuredly sincere. Though she experiences bouts of insecurity thanks to her philandering ex-husband, Dan (Matt Walsh) and his catty new wife, Marcie (Julie Bowen), Deanna remains unapologetically herself. Despite her glow-up, Deanna remains the kind of woman who says things like, “pound sign hashtag gratitude” and toasts tequila shots to “full maternity leave for all non-gender-specific parents.”
Deanna is likewise unafraid to go against the grain when it comes to her relationships with women – though the cool girls at college are still hung up on high-school meanness, Deanna thrives on her relationships with the women around her. She quickly befriends her daughter’s sorority sisters, and even spends one sequence making them all lasagna and telling them how beautiful their minds are. Her adult best friend Christine (Maya Rudolph) is equally lovable, and their friendship epitomizes Deanna’s unabashed compassion. “Woo, that’s my girl! That’s my lady!” Christine crows to a crowded restaurant after Deanna confronts Marcy. “I love you! I love you! You’re my hero!”
The film, co-written by husband-and-wife collaborators Ben Falcone and McCarthy (“Tammy,” “The Boss”), sets itself apart by centering female friendships. Sadly, that’s not enough to save it from obscurity. Some choice comedic bits will stick with you – sorority sister Helen (a brilliant Gillian Jacobs) getting a guy to leave her alone by pretending to fall back into a coma, Deanna pouring her heart out to her Uber driver (a well-timed cameo from director Ben Falcone) – but the rest is hardly memorable. Melissa McCarthy is delightful, especially when busting out the full dance routine to “Jump on It,” but there’s not enough substance here to make this one of her best performances. Rather than a “Bridesmaids”-caliber comedy, “Life of the Party” is closer to “Spy” or “Ghostbusters” – romps that, though fun, lack the oomph necessary to be truly iconic.
Though “Life of the Party” is certainly lively, and there is a lot of partying, the title is ultimately a misnomer. The comedy treads water somewhere short of raunchiness, when instead it should swim for shore. Physical comedy and accidental drug-taking are all well and good, but at this point, they’re modern staples of the genre that “Life of the Party” does little to reinvent. Maybe if the film had dwelled on its more off-color scenes instead of falling back on typical comedy fodder, it would be truly magnetic. Unfortunately, it’s more like a sloppy friend who, despite starting the night off full of joie de vivre, you now have to help stumble home. [C+]