Life Of The Party

This review may contain spoilers!

Despite a fun comedic cast, this isn't a film that makes an effort to stand out or do anything different. I would give Life Of The Party a 3.5/10.

The strength of the film lies in its very well written characters, there's a lot of humorous individuals here and you'd be easily entertained by just about any of them. The strength is that whether the scene focuses on the main cast or some characters, you will be hooked in by their personalities and how they interact with one another. Life Of The Party also does a great job of setting itself up for some of the clever punchlines it has planned, resulting in some of the great scenes like the reveal around Jack's character or the divorce meeting scene.

Melissa McCarthy, who played Deanna, really suited the lead protagonist of this film; McCarthy established some very clear witticisms to her role and presented a nice caricature of a mother figure in a youthful setting. Molly Gordon, who played Maddie, really established the horror and embarrassment her character faced rather well; Gordon's growing support and change in outlook as the film progressed was a nice change from familiar tropes. Maya Rudolph, who played Christine, just has such natural chemistry with McCarthy and they feel like close friends onscreen; Rudolph knows when to play up her role and does a great job at showing how her character lives vicariously through her best friend. Adria Arjona and Jessie Ennis, who played Amanda and Debbie respectively, have so much energy in their roles; these could very easily be characters who feel like side roles but they really commit to their scenes making the main group of girls a very visible and accessible friend group to watch. Julie Bowen, who played Marcie, brilliantly encapsulated the vain and arrogant nature of her role; Bowen was a nasty enough antagonist and the horror she displayed when her character got her comeuppance made for a satisfying scene. Matt Walsh, who played Dan, gives quite a dry performance which suits his role well; the very deadpan delivery of this significant divorce makes his and Bowen's character immediately dislikeable. Jacki Weaver and Stephen Root, who played Sandy and Mike respectively, dither a bit and have mildly absurd reactions to many of the events they are privy to in this film; Root's extreme tirades are an especially funny aspect of this relationship. Luke Benward, who played Jack, is a very charismatic and charming role; Benward's portrayal of Jack's infatuation with McCarthy is very well done and an equal balance of humour and sincerity. Chris Parnell, who played Mr Truzack, is quite a dorky professor role that immediately charms; Parnell lends a very supportive and honest quality to this character which makes him rather likeable. Damon Jones, who played Frank, is a very grounded figure which makes his style of comedy quite different from the rest of the cast; Jones plays an ordinary husband quite well and has great chemistry with Rudolph. Heidi Gardner, who played Leonor, deadpans a very dark young adult goth brilliantly; Gardner does a very nice portrayal of the budding feelings of friendship her role feels towards McCarthy's character.

 However, the best performance came from Gillian Jacobs, who played Helen. This is a rather unique role to the film with an intriguing backstory of spending a few years in a coma. Her rather 'out there' persona and unpredictable attitude was a nice contrast to the rest of the film and made her interesting to watch. Jacobs has a very natural way of finding the best means of delivering a line to create comedic impact. This is a role who isn't always at the forefront of the action but who steals the show constantly; you'd almost prefer to see a spinoff about this particular role.

This isn't a story that will surprise you very much, it follows an all too familiar formula and sticks to that fairly close. It's never a feature that sets out to achieve much more than the baseline concept it pitches at you in the first fifteen minutes; so by the time the ending comes around the narrative hasn't taken any surprising twists or turns. In fact, everything about this particular comedy is extremely safe, the main protagonist is never met with any real challenges and never faces strong ramifications for her actions. The cinematography doesn't look impressive, there are multiple scenes that aren't very well framed. The editing also lacks any flair and keeps the narrative at a slow pace. The score for the film is forgettable; while the soundtrack feels like someone picked songs at random for comedic effect without actually thinking if all the tracks would work well together.

Debby Ryan and Yani Simone, who played Jennifer and Trina respectively, are some of the most stereotypical antagonists I've seen in a recent comedy film; Ryan, in particular, seems content playing a catty bully with no personality traits beyond that stereotype. Jimmy O. Yang, who played Tyler, doesn't really serve much of a purpose in this film; he feels like one cast member too many and his chemistry with Gordon just isn't there. Christina Aguilera, who played herself, was an ill-fitting and obvious cameo; Aguilera's role within the film doesn't come as a shock and she certainly doesn't have much when it comes to acting chops.