Review of Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) by Hnestlyonthesly — 12 Oct 2019

It is rare to see a movie that so perfectly accomplishes what it sets out to do. McCarthy had spoken previously in interviews about her interest in playing an “unapologetic woman”, the beauty of finding something sympathetic in that deeply private, closed-off person.

It’s what makes the recurring drunk calls to Elaine so compelling. But there are also these gestures to realism that make the film even more compelling, Wife says: the way that Elaine isn’t interested in being her sounding board, hasn’t thought about her or the cat in years, leaves rather than “talk (Lee) off the edge”.

The lack of redemption is refreshing: Lee’s aversion to AA. The metatheatrical references of things that make Lee Israel an unpublishable writer that make Melissa McCarthy an unbankable actor, in the same vein as Lizzie. Lee’s ability to flawlessly quote the Golden Age movie she’s watching contrasts her own unimpressive existence with her dramatic persona and inner life.

Can You Ever‘s light touches sometimes sock you in the stomach as hard as the heavy stuff:The excruciating date Lee goes on is one of the most awkward date scenes I’ve seen all year and I saw Eighth Grade. The way Lee looks so ashamed and confused by the smell of her own apartment and the quick about face by her friend Jack who is at first repulsed and them recognizes that Lee doesn’t understand.

This film has done a tremendous job of sketching out two flawed characters into fully considered, pathetic persons. The story is told well and transcends the limitations of the biopic genre.