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Notable for revving-up movies both good ( Bridesmaids ) and mediocre ( Identity Thief ) with her brash, no-holds-barred comic turns, here Melissa McCarthy gets her turn behind the wheel. First-time director and long-time husband Ben Falcone is understandably eager to show that she’s got more than raucous rants and slapstick under the bonnet.
So, this warm but terminally uneven road movie about a frustrated fast-food worker hitting the highway with her boozy granny sees a bratty but battered McCarthy going for pathos (she’s sacked, dumped, homeless, and stuns a deer, all in the first 10 minutes) as well as pratfalls.
The film exploits McCarthy’s engaging fearlessness – her USP – but also doesn’t stint on her trademark improv riffing (Tammy’s sacking is a whirlwind of licked burgers and ripe insults: “Chicken? It’s mostly dick and beak”). Her swaggering slapstick gets a run-out too, showcased in a wacky burger-bar robbery which charms even her victims.
Trouble is, there’s now a list of familiar Melissa Moves. Klutzy drunk partying? Goofy singing? Shameless passes? Comic violence? This movie ticks all those boxes repeatedly. Yet what separates Tammy from Identity Theft ’s go-for-the-gag approach are its surprisingly dark themes. Small-town hopelessness, epic bad days, adultery, alcoholism, and pill abuse all rear their heads. It’s as if Falling Down got reworked as a sitcom.
Too bad then, that the flabby direction and episodic script (co-written by McCarthy and Falcone) can’t balance this bold mix of the merry and the melancholy. Instead we get shtick (jet-ski crashes, granny-sex) alternating with sentimentality. Meanwhile, a great, underused cast (including Alison Janney’s shrill mom and Mark Duplass’ bemused love interest) are left idling while McCarthy’s brassy energy powers the movie.
Yet Susan Sarandon’s hard-drinking, horny granny is a stone-cold scene-stealer, even in a grey nan-perm. Her sly, natural performance and McCarthy’s essential sweetness keep the comedy relatable, even when Tammy ’s unwieldy combo of comedy and poignancy threatens to knock it flatter than roadkill.
Kate is a freelance film journalist and critic. Her bylines have appeared online and in print for GamesRadar, Total Film, the BFI, Sight & Sounds, and WithGuitars.com.

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