Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The law about movie characters needing to be sympathetic is defied in this horribly fascinating true-crime black comedy.

The miracle is Melissa McCarthy, whose tortured portrait of disgraced celebrity author and convicted forger Lee Israel is the consummate performance of her career and the crowning achievement of her life. I have seen Can You Ever Forgive Me? twice, rubbing my eyes with astonishment and discovering something new and wonderful each time. This is my favorite film of 2018.

It’s the human side of the character that makes this McCarthy’s best performance to date, revealing haunting insights into friendship, loneliness, and creative insecurity.

It doesn’t wring its hands with grief and beatify its rumpled subjects. Instead, it arrives at a place of humble, true understanding. Which means more than mere forgiveness ever could.

The powerful, vanity-free performances are the real thing in this bittersweet biopic.

McCarthy’s performance, which is paired with an equally rewarding turn by British actor Richard E. Grant, anchors this bizarre, compelling true story.

A mess of a gay best friend, played brilliantly by Richard E. Grant in what is easily one of the year’s most enjoyable supporting performances. He steals every scene he’s in, injecting the film with a needed dose of lovability that carries it through its narrative lulls.

Awesome story for a change, acting is fantastic by Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant and movie in general is great you should watch it.

Ci sta. Molto interessante, dal punto di vista del concept e della storia vera su cui è basato. McCarthy non mi ha dato fastidio e i **** non mi sono dispiaciuti. Ma il film in generale non si sporge più in là di quanto si prefigge di andare. La regia e la fotografia sono nella media e non sono nient'altro che funzionali. Consigliato? Sì, ma non c'è fretta.

The 7.5 listed above is probably the best way to rate this move. It honestly isn't a bad movie, I just....never really cared. McCarthy's performance is actually surprisingly good as is Grant's, but the story just moves at a underwhelming and laborious pace and never really picks up the feeling. I get that is to be expected from a drama, but I never felt any sense of care or concern in this movie because I just never really cared about the characters or the story. I'm giving it a 6 because it probably is a good movie for those that like a good drama and the performances from the cast, I would just recommend not watching this if you don't know about the story or are trying to find a movie to keep you awake.

This story about anti-social writer Lee Israel starts off OK and looks proficient enough – with neat direction, good Cinematography, and very capable performances. Melissa McCarthy convinces as Israel, trouble is, the two central characters simply offer nothing for us to like about them. Lee is a blatant and unrepentant thief in the form of a serial forger. She forges letters from famous show bis people, selling them to stores specialising in such items. Her partner in crime, played by Richard E. Grant is an equally unlikeable homosexual with no moral compass whatsoever. Together they con even those who offer them genuine understanding and friendship and hardly seem to care. As good as it looks; it soon becomes tiresome as spending time with these people is totally unrewarding. Might suit those who like character studies of characterless subjects. By the way, language is as you might expect, over the top.

The Mother of all Flops... cheaply produced and so forth presented, underdeveloped characters, poorly written, the minimal literary craft of a novice, few surprises in a slothful plot, typical stock lgbtq characters.