Movie #134- "Identity Thief" (2013)

The trailer for "Identity Thief" pretty much gives you all the information you need to know along with a fair portion of the laughs.  What this movie boils down to is that it's a take on the buddy comedy featuring two contrasting personalities, forced to travel across the country in a car because (surprise) air travel gets ruled out.  If the awkwardness of the situation doesn't provide enough humor or challenge for the characters, the stakes are mysteriously upped by adding another criminal element chasing our two heroes.  I really didn't think that urgency added anything to the film except inflate the running time.
You've seen this movie before, in several different variations.  Using technology, and the ability of identity theft, may be the lone difference in a fairly standard genre.  Melissa McCarthy is becoming the "go-to" for loud, brash, foul-mouthed female characters while Jason Bateman does his normal guy pushed to the limit routine.  The casting of these two actors doesn't come as a surprise, although both have done better work with these characters in other projects.    A few mild laughs occur, but there are several other superior examples of this particular comedy.

Rating: 5/10
Movies I've previously seen: 7
First time viewings: 127