CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Director: Marielle Heller

106, R

Screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, based on Lee Israel's memoir.

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Anna Deavere Smith, Stephen Spinella.

 

In a new film directed by Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and co-written by Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money), Melissa McCarthy finally gets a shot at a leading, dramatic role. No one should be surprised that she is superb. The story is based on the memoir of Lee Israel, a New York City biographer (and hard-drinking cat lady), who turns to forging letters by famous authors when times get hard. Richard E. Grant plays her partner in crime, if not love (he is gay, she prefers women.) Behind the bluster, McCarthy reveals the sly pleasure of swindling the literary world that found her so easy to dismiss.

“Believe the Oscar buzz McCarthy shows she has what it takes to tackle drama, comedy and all stops in between: the power to amaze.”  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.