52. Can You Ever Forgive Me?; movie review

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Cert 15
106 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, drugs misuse

Why has Richard E. Grant been nominated for an Academy Award for a tepid version of his character in Withnail & I?
Have we reached the stage where enough good performances tip the weight of judgment in an actor's direction?
That used to be called a lifetime achievement award.
It is not that Grant is bad in Marielle Heller's Can You Forgive Me? - he just isn't golden statuette-worthy, in my opinion.
Mind you, neither is Melissa McCarthy who has also been nominated for an Oscar. However, she is probably more notable because this is such a diversion from her usual on-screen persona.
McCarthy, famed for slapstick comedy, goes serious with the story of how faded author Lee Israel made a fortune forging letters of the famous.
The film alights upon a time when she is more likely to be seen draining a bottle at the end of a dive bar than on a bestseller list.
Indeed, such is her tale of self-pity that she seeks to pay her vet's bills by selling her framed thank-you letter from Katharine Hepburn.
The thirst for such personal writing sews the seed in Isreal's mind for an industrial-sized fraud.
The premise of Can You Ever Forgive Me? is relatively interesting although almost all of those who are name-dropped by Israel will be unknown to younger audiences.
Indeed, the whole subject matter would rather foreign to anyone under 40 because nobody writes letters any more and nobody has typewriters.
Nevertheless, those of us who were around in the dark ages will be more than aware of the backdrop to Israel's one-woman battle to balance what she sees as life's scales of injustice.
She and her new-found British luvvy (Grant) take on the world through an alcoholic haze but discovery is inevitable.
As said, this is a very different McCarthy to the one we see in her slapstick comedies - her character is downbeat and, with the exception of one, friendless.
And Lee Israel's tiresomeness is the very reason why Can You Ever Forgive Me? didn't resonate with Mrs W and me as much as we expected.
To put it bluntly, we wanted Lee Israel to be caught because she was so obnoxious and self-centred.
And we had seen Grant do his turn before.
Therefore, while it was an interesting story and there are enthusiastic performances, it didn't have the wow factor for us.

Reasons to watch: Two Oscar nominations
Reasons to avoid: Lacks the wow factor

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? By her own account, it is estimated that she either stole, altered, or flat out forged more than 400 letters from deceased actors and writers, including Dorothy Parker, Noël Coward, Ernest Hemingway, Louise Brooks, and more. 

The final word. Melissa McCarthy: "I just found Lee fascinating. And I thought how funny that someone on the outside (who) doesn't seem to be someone you would have so much compassion for… I really loved her by the end. It’s a great story of humanity to watch someone so lonely and kind of invisible, kind of fight their way through life." Forbes

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