Movie review: 'Identity Thief'

“Identity Thief” uses a familiar comedy template with predictable results.
By Dennis King Modified: February 7, 2013 at 2:48 pm •  Published: February 8, 2013

Anyway, cops are pitifully ineffectual in helping poor Sandy, so he takes matters into his own hands and travels to Florida to confront Diana and drag her back to Denver to clear his good name.

On the road, much bickering ensues as Sandy and Diana roughly bond while taking several detours down back roads to greasy-spoon diners and no-tell motels and being pursued by a silky pair of cartel assassins (T.I. and Genesis Rodriguez) and a grizzly, gun-toting bounty hunter (Robert Patrick).

Motor-mouthed McCarthy and mild-mannered Bateman are the glue that holds this strained, slapdash story together. Everything depends on the spiky chemistry they conjure up as he natters around feebly while she riffs hilariously on radio tunes, cooks up various larcenous pranks and prattles on about the sex goddess within (with teary hints at her tragic, vulnerable past).

It's not quite enough to redeem “Identity Thief” from its blithely dubious attitude toward larceny and its consequences, but if you find yourself stuck in the back seat on this road trip to nowhere new, at least they're lively, entertaining company.

— Dennis King

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by Dennis King
Movie Critic (Contributor)
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‘Identity Thief'

R1:512 stars

Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, T.I., Amanda Peet (Sexual content and language).

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