By Jared Sokoloff
Correspondent
Identity theft has become a common, and often serious, occurrence in our digital world.
“Identity Thief” spends 112 minutes making a farce out of this problem. Jason Bateman plays all-around good guy Sandy Bigelow, an accounting whiz trying to get ahead.
Melissa McCarthy plays throat-punching, lonely con-woman Diana. When Diana steals Sandy’s identity, his dream job is put on the line.
In order to prove his innocence and get his job back, Sandy travels from Denver to Florida to bring Diana to the state police in his home state.
The complicated reasoning behind why the Denver police couldn’t help Sandy is questionable. The explanation is rushed and confusing, and it feels like they just made up their own laws for the sake of the story.
(To simplify the plot for “Arrested Development” fans, Michael Bluth gets his identity stolen by a ratchet version of Melissa McCarthy’s character from “Bridesmaids.” They go on a road trip together.)
There’s nothing too unique about this plot, and it features a completely useless subplot that I’m pretty sure was added only to justify the car chases. My biggest problem with the movie was the fact that an amazing financial whiz like Sandy was so gullible with his personal information in the first place.
Despite these complications, it was a pretty good film. Bateman’s subtle facial expressions brought the scenes to life and the darker back-story to Diana’s character gave the film a level of depth I was not expecting.
Most importantly, it was funny all the way through, and the cast gives great performances across the board. Was this movie worth the $8.50 I paid to see it? Barely, but it’s definitely worth a watch with your friends on Netflix next time you’re looking for a way to lift your spirits.
