First off, I didn't know where to put this - in the Screenwriting section or the review section - but yeah, that's the question:  is Tammy a blueprint for how NOT to write a script?

Anyway, since I recently started working at a movie theater, I get free passes to whatever I want.  Well, I thought I'd be a cool boyfriend and take my woman out to see whatever she wanted instead of dragging her to some lame-o flick that I wanted to check out.  We ended up seeing Tammy.  Right off the bat, I had reservations about it, but I decided to give it a chance since New Line Cinema was attached to it (and I like New Line, a lot).  

I know Melissa McCarthy.  It's supposed to be funny because she's the cute little obese fat woman who uses foul language, and then at some point in the movie she'll get all serious and become a really good actor when she explains why the kids made fun of her in school and how she's had a shitty life or something along those lines.  I actually told my girlfriend this would happen at some point in the movie in some way or another, and whaddaya know?  I called it. haha

The auditorium I was in wasn't packed, but it had a nice crowd.  Not one single peep from anyone.  No laughs at all.  Ok, I may be lying.  I might have heard some snickering and a few chuckles, but all in all, it was really fucking dead.  It was even kind of embarrassing because I could tell the beginning of this movie was trying so hard to be hilarious/funny.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say the beginning portion was the worst part because it was so forced and on the nose.  I have never seen such blatant OTN dialogue, OTN situations, etc.

This post will contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, don't read on.

Tammy gets fired from her fast food job for being late, comes home early only to find her husband making dinner for the neighbor.  Tammy throws a fit and spells out the rest of what's going to happen in the film in her dialogue.  There's no subtlety.    She goes to her mother's house -- where her grandma happens to live as well -- to borrow a car so she can "get out of town."  Her grandma likes the idea and they go on a road trip together.

This is where the real problems start.

There's no goal.  They just go on a "road trip" and run into stupid shit.  At no point in the film do Tammy and the grandma ever have a strong goal that propels the story forward.

There's no stakes.  Nothing is on the line.  These characters could turn the car back around and go home and everything would be fine.  Boring.

There's no sense of urgency and I guess we could blame the lack of a strong goal for that one.

Both characters are the same.  Tammy is foul mouthed, wild, and unpredictable.  So is the grandma, who also happens to be an alcoholic.  There's no distinction between the two.  They seemed to be fine with each other except for the fact that Tammy didn't care for grandma's drinking.  There was no real clashing or conflict between the two.  Usually a movie like this would have one character be ultra careful, unadventurous, etc. while the other character would be the walk on the wild side type-- which is usually the best way to create a shit load of conflict and funny moments.

When the credits started to roll, I honestly thought to myself 'this is a blueprint for how not to write a screenplay.'  No goals, no stakes or consequences (I mean, not one fucking thing on the line), no urgency, no conflict, no subtlety, no contrasting characters, no good stuff at all.  And in my opinion, if you don't incorporate a good portion of that stuff into your story (goal, stakes, urgency, conflict, etc), then you're going to have a really terrible script on your hands.  I guess maybe they thought they could get away with it and assumed everyone would laugh at Melissa McCarthy's cute little obese fat woman who uses foul language shtick.

What does everyone else think?

I just wouldn't watch a film if it looks like a pile of shite, and this one does just from the front cover.


This may also explain why it was written so badly:

Writers: Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone

Obviously names pull certain weight, but they shouldn't go out and just consider themselves writers. Stick to what you're good at, leave the writing to the pro's.

What did your girlfriend think?

You don't necessarily need goals or stakes, but successful films that don't (in a critical sense) tend to be introspective, arty and philosophical...in other words they are looking to get their kicks in other areas than just from pure emotion.

Goals and stakes are really a part of the three act structure "school" of writing. It's designed to have maximum narrative drive and maximum emotional impact. It works through a process of obstacle/solution obstacle/solution building up to the point where "There is no chance the main character can win, but THEN HE DOES" climax.

Stories where the goal is just freedom tend to have a much freer structure...they are just journeys of self discovery. You either get the characters and see something mirrored in your own life, or you won't, and you'll hate them.

This movie has already made a profit. It's up to 63 mil and it's still going strong. It'll most likely hit 80 mil, maybe even more.

These kinds of movies aren't about stories, they are star vehicles. Melissa McCarthy is the flavor of the month, they're taking advantage of it. She'll have 2-3 more movies that turn a profit then fade, IMO.

You have a star and you can market the movie. People went to see it. For producers, what's there not to love? They'll make money.

Also not all movies need goals, stakes and urgency. I haven't seen this movie nor do I plan to so I can't comment on it.

Haven't seen this film, I was just wondering if I'm the only one who really dislikes McCarthy? I don't know why, but she turns me off completely. At least from the few times I have seen her.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Haven't seen this film, I was just wondering if I'm the only one who really dislikes McCarthy? I don't know why, but she turns me off completely. At least from the few times I have seen her.

I don't like her either. I don't get her shtick, I doubt she'll have much staying power. But good for her. She's making money.

I'm sure scripshadow had a review of the script a little while back that pretty much said the same thing as this review. It's unlikely I will ever see this. Even if I was taking Emma Stone on a date and she really wanted to see it, I still wouldn't want to.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Haven't seen this film, I was just wondering if I'm the only one who really dislikes McCarthy? I don't know why, but she turns me off completely. At least from the few times I have seen her.

You are not alone. She's got that Adam Sandler vibe to her. I could bet on the character she's gonna play and how each situation is gonna play out. Relying on the same gags and saying the same 'out there' things over and over again. Snooze.

Quoted from ArtyDoubleYou You are not alone. She's got that Adam Sandler vibe to her.

I'm not a fan of hers either. I sat through a whole episode of Mike and Molly once. It was years ago but I'm still upset about it.

However, I don't think she's as bad or annoying as Sandler. Nobody's in Sandler's league for producing puerile, painful and oh Christ oh so bloody dull movies. I can't bear to read his name anymore. It hurts my eyes.

R

I really liked McCarthy in Bridesmaids. Besides that, she kind of sucks. I think she's a decent actress. She just takes s hitty, paper-thin roles.

I heard a critic describe McCarthy comedies as "she's fat and she falls down." I can't think of a better description than that.

I agree with Will, I liked McCarthy in BRIDESMAIDS, but that was because Kristen Wiig wrote the character. Don't know much of her other work.

I will give her full marks though for trying to carve out a career normally reserved for guys - the John Candy / Chris Farley character.

I'm interested to see a different Melissa - Rauch, that is - try what McCarthy is trying. Rauch is currently filming her passion project in Ohio, called THE BRONZE, where she plays a foul-mouthed ex-Olympic gymnast whose pseudo-celebrity is threatened by a newcomer. Rauch is extremely talented and way underutilized on TBBT. Watch out for it - if she succeeds it could open new doors for the indie market...

Haven't seen the film either. But I read the comments and I'm going to have to disagree on the "road trip movie" concept. I think of films that are road trip movies. Rainman. National Lampoon's Vacation. Midnight Run. The Sure Thing.Little Miiss Sunshine and I think back...

Were there "goals" for the characters? Yes.
Were there obstacles for the characters to face? Yes.
Were there any character arcs - although not always needed? Yes.

Yes, road movies can be about freedom and self-discovery, but I'm sorry. All those movies I mentioned, including a Best Picture winner, had 'freedom and self discovery' but those characters had goals and arcs. Maybe Tammy had them, I don't know I haven't seen the pic yet. But to suggest road movies don't need the arcs and goals---then could someone explain to me why road movies usually do?

Jury's still out for me on McCarthy. As others, loved her in Bridesmaids. Despised her in The Heat (The Heat was a cliched, weak film that was boosted more to Sandra Vullock more than anything and the novelty of a female buddy film) It should be pointed out that when actors generally use profanity, it is ad-libbed and may not be part of the script. But it's pointed out that McCarthy co-wrote the film. So there might be something to it. However, to suggest that "actors" should not write scripts is perplexing to me. We were just singing praises of Kristen Wiig just a moment ago, and did we all just sudden;y hate Good Will Hunting?

Have you seen Holy Flying Circus?

R

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley Haven't seen the film either. But I read the comments and I'm going to have to disagree on the "road trip movie" concept. I think of films that are road trip movies. Rainman. National Lampoon's Vacation. Midnight Run. The Sure Thing.Little Miiss Sunshine and I think back... Were there "goals" for the characters? Yes. Were there obstacles for the characters to face? Yes. Were there any character arcs - although not always needed? Yes. Yes, road movies can be about freedom and self-discovery, but I'm sorry. All those movies I mentioned, including a Best Picture winner, had 'freedom and self discovery' but those characters had goals and arcs. Maybe Tammy had them, I don't know I haven't seen the pic yet. But to suggest road movies don't need the arcs and goals---then could someone explain to me why road movies usually do?

Agreed.

I think it's pretty clear that 'Tammy' was picked up because of star power.  I'm not a big fan of McCarthy either, but I wanted to discuss the script/story itself.  It's just an overall mess.  If someone was to ask me what they should avoid when writing a feature, I would point them toward Tammy and tell them to take notes.  There's a lot of things wrong with it and it's not just the huge lack of goals, stakes, and urgency - which I think should be incorporated into every story in some fashion or another.  

What makes Rainman and Midnight Run great movies, especially Midnight Run:  the two main characters are polar opposites - they're so completely different from one another.  When you have two characters that are opposites, you open doors to zillions of opportunities.  One person will want to go this way and the other person will want to go another way.  Would Midnight Run have been nearly as funny if Duke and Walsh were always on the same page with each other?  No way.  That movie is hilarious because they can never agree on anything - ever - at all.

Also, Tammy was really OTN especially in the very beginning.  Nothing was restrained and everything felt so forced.  After more thought, the opening brings me to another question(s) - why do we even like Tammy?  She's a stupid, foul-mouthed, idiot, doesn't have her shit together, has no ambition whatsoever.  Why are we supposed to feel sorry for her when she finds out her husband is cheating?  Her husband is clean cut, has a nice house, looks like he's the boss of his own company, seems like a very articulate and smart guy...and he's with Tammy...still?  Why?  I feel sorry for the husband more than I do for Tammy.  I didn't like her at all and just because "she's fat and she falls down" (which she does do in the opener) isn't good enough.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films What did your girlfriend think?

She liked it  

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley Haven't seen the film either. But I read the comments and I'm going to have to disagree on the "road trip movie" concept. I think of films that are road trip movies. Rainman. National Lampoon's Vacation. Midnight Run. The Sure Thing.Little Miiss Sunshine and I think back... Were there "goals" for the characters? Yes. Were there obstacles for the characters to face? Yes. Were there any character arcs - although not always needed? Yes. Yes, road movies can be about freedom and self-discovery, but I'm sorry. All those movies I mentioned, including a Best Picture winner, had 'freedom and self discovery' but those characters had goals and arcs. Maybe Tammy had them, I don't know I haven't seen the pic yet. But to suggest road movies don't need the arcs and goals---then could someone explain to me why road movies usually do? Jury's still out for me on McCarthy. As others, loved her in Bridesmaids. Despised her in The Heat (The Heat was a cliched, weak film that was boosted more to Sandra Vullock more than anything and the novelty of a female buddy film) It should be pointed out that when actors generally use profanity, it is ad-libbed and may not be part of the script. But it's pointed out that McCarthy co-wrote the film. So there might be something to it. However, to suggest that "actors" should not write scripts is perplexing to me. We were just singing praises of Kristen Wiig just a moment ago, and did we all just sudden;y hate Good Will Hunting?

I think you have invented a bit of a strawman there... the only person that mentioned freer structures was me, and I made absolutely no mention of road movies.