Summary:
Based on the true story of Lee Israel, a best selling author that became a literary forger when her work fell out of style.
My Thoughts:
If you follow this blog rather frequently, you’ll know that my love of film is great as my love for books (if this is your first time here, welcome!), so any chance I get to review a film that has something to do with the literary world I jump at it. As we at TMM are scrambling desperately to try to finish reviewing all of the Oscar nominated movies this year, I volunteered to review this one. I didn’t know a lot about this film going into it, other than it was nominated for three Oscars (Best Actress-McCarthy, Best Supporting Actor- Richard E Grant (finally-woot!), and Best Adapted Screenplay- Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty), and it was about a literary forger. Though I had expected to enjoy the film based solely on Oscar nominations and general reviews, I must say I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed this film.
“I’m a fifty-one-year-old who likes cats better than people.”
Lee Israel (McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”) has become a cliché; she’s a former best-selling author turned drunk. Her books wont sell anymore, she’s behind on her rent, her cat is sick, and her only friend is Jack Hock (Richard E Grant, “Withnail and I”), a shady-dealing drunk who used to frequent the same parties as her. Out of desperation, Lee sells a prized letter from a famous author, and then she gets the idea to forge letters from famous authors to sell for cash. As she gets deeper into the world of forging, she realizes she may have crossed too many lines.
It always impresses me when a writer can convince me to care about a person who is rather detestable, and Lee Israel, when we first meet her, is quite repulsive. She’s a person that downs tumblers of whiskey at her copy-editing job before getting fired; she’s frequently drunk in the middle of the day (though not inebriated beyond function); she lives in filth, with discarded takeout boxes piled up in her kitchen and cat poop under her bed; she barges into her agent’s office unannounced to scream at her; she is, in short, a huge mess. She should be completely unlikeable, but her story is as sad as she is, and despite all of her flaws, I found myself rooting for her, wanting her to succeed, even when she did start heading down the wrong path. The world that the writers create for Lee is so cruel to her that her actions almost feel justified.
Both Melissa McCarthy and Richard E Grant earn their nominations this year. Melissa McCarthy garnered her first nom for her roll in “Bridesmaids”, and while I wont deny that role is hilarious, I feel as if the Oscar nomination here was far more justified. Her role in this film is a difficult one to play, and she does a fantastic job. Melissa has been a great actress for years (remember Sookie from Gilmore Girls?), and I’m happy she’s finally started to get the recognition she deserves. Similarly, Richard E Grant FINALLY gets his first nomination. I feel like Grant has been in a lot of things, but always in the background (He’s good in “Gosford Park”, and remarkable in “Withnail and I”- but his role on HBO’s Girls was what really sold me on him). I am thrilled to death this career actor has finally gotten some recognition. Grant is marvelous as Jack Hock, Lee’s seedy alcoholic friend and collaborator.
Really, this is just a well-told story, and one that is compelling and interesting to watch unfold. The script has moments that made me laugh out loud and a few that almost made me cry. It’s a story that should be told, and it’s wonderful the film turned out as well as it did.
Verdict:
I really enjoyed this film. It’s just about a person trying to do her best to get by, and the bumps in the road along the way. It’s well acted, well written, and it has something it really wants to say. If you get a chance to check out this film, do so! You wont be disappointed.
Endnote: After I watched this, I recommended it to a few buddies, and one of them mentioned that the trailer gave everything away- it had a three act structure. Intrigued, I watched the trailer, and lo and behold he was completely right! The trailer for this movie gives almost every plot point away. I don’t know who edited that trailer but they need to be fired. So yeah, just a PSA endnote: skip the trailer, see the film.
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