Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
For burger-joint employee Tammy, a bad day keeps getting worse. She wrecks her car, loses her job, and finds that her husband has been unfaithful. It's time to hit the road, but without money or transportation, Tammy's options are limited. Her only choice is a road trip with her hard-drinking grandmother Pearl, who has a car, cash, and an itch to see Niagara Falls. It's not the escape Tammy had in mind, but it may be what she needs.
Tammy is a fairly formulaic road-trip comedy with a familiar premise—down-on-her-luck protagonist finds redemption through an unlikely journey. Melissa McCarthy brings her usual physical comedy energy and carries most of the film, while Susan Sarandon adds some credibility as the boozy grandmother, giving the acting a modest lift. Visually it's unremarkable, shot in a flat, workmanlike style typical of mid-budget comedies. The novelty is low—the road movie with mismatched companions is well-trodden, and the script doesn't find a fresh angle on it. The ending resolves things predictably without much earned emotional payoff. A passable if forgettable comedy that underutilizes its cast.