August Keller

@WritesAugust

Life of the Party is the most painful film I have sat through in many years. It’s story lacks any focus or insight and it’s characters are maddeningly inconsistent. It’s direction is practically nonexistent as scenes are never sure of when to end or what they are culminating to. While Maya Rudolph and others are sometimes refreshing, much of this cast provided limited performances. All around, Life of the Party feels like a mess slapped together by people who couldn’t be bothered with ideas of craft.

Melissa McCarthy does provide good energy with her positive confidence but it is not enough to carry such a half-baked project. Improvisation can be a wonderful technique for comedy but when a film seems to have improvised its entire production, it comes across as unprofessional and lazy. Ideas, characters and plot points enter and exit this movie with such carelessness that everything ends up feelings like nothing. Sporadic funny moments are nice but do not offset how insulting this whole experience is. Life of the Party is a dump of a film and a waste of time.

Writing: 1/10

Direction: 1/10

Cinematography: 3/10

Acting: 3/10

Editing: 1/10

Sound: 5/10

Score/Soundtrack: 5/10

Production Design: 3/10

Casting: 3/10

Effects: 4/10

Overall Score: 2.9/10