Plot: After losing her job and learning that her husband has been unfaithful, a woman hits the road with her profane, hard-drinking grandmother (via IMDb)
Rating: a surprised 6.5/10
Well it seems like 2014 can still deliver some pleasant surprises. I didn’t expect was that I would like this. I am currently having a little bitchfit every time I see an overweight lady portrayed as dirty, sloppy, rude and not in control of her life. I hated The Heat, McCartney’s movie before this, and I was certain that Tammy would be just an adaption of that nonsense. Tammy started off looking exactly like I was destined to have a fit again, but the movie redeemed itself by letting Tammy access her full potential and shine. Tammy tries to show that you can hit rock bottom and find a way to pick yourself up and carry on.
This movie had a rather star studded cast but it didn’t overwhelm, and the stars were really good in their respective roles.
Let’s just discuss Allison Janney for ten seconds. I am simply in love with this woman’s acting. I’ve seen her now in Tammy as a comfortable urban mom, in 8 Simple Rules for Dating my teenage daughter as a slightly harassed mother of three, in Easy A as a perverted school headmistress, in countless other small roles and in Sons of Anarchy as the formidable biker matriarch Gemma. She is as convincing as a soccer mom as she is in the SOA, and the roles could not be more difficult. She is always utterly believable, and she can be funny, scary, intense and charming without even breaking a sweat.
I found Mark Duplass adorable as the love interest Bobby and the cautious and mostly awkward relationship development much more real than most movies. Susan Sarandon was a huge reason this worked because she played an excellent harmless looking granny with a seriously mean streak. I adore Kathy Bates (it has so much to do with that cool voice of hers) and she was also charming for the few seconds of screen time she got.
Recommendation: Perhaps I was just in a good mood, but I had a good time with this, and if you are looking for some light-hearted fun that has surprising depths, give this a try!
Life of this city girl 