Critics have not been kind to married actor/director pairing Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s five films that the pair have made together, but how do the Bridesmaids, actor Melissa McCarthy and her frequent director/real-life husband Ben Falcone have been unable to find critical success with the five movies that they have collaborated on in recent years.
2014’s McCarthy and Falcone's movies ranges from woeful to able, but none of the couple’s collaborations have yet received a positive reception.
Some of the criticisms leveled at the pair’s collaborations are more than fair, as The Boss proves throughout its runtime. However, there are hints of promise in their first collaboration during the goofier, more gonzo moments of Tammy, which imply that a less aggressively mainstream style of comedy could suit the duo better. However, later outings like Thunder Force and Super Intelligence have seen Falcone and McCarthy double down on the broad appeal, family-friendly side of comedy, rather than taking a more subversive, outre route, a choice that seems designed to recreate the financial success of Adam Sandler’s later movies — and has instead earned them reviews as bad as Sandler’s recent outings.
5. The Boss (2016)
Despite boasting the always-welcome presence of Adam McKay's comedic creation Ron Burgundy, where The Boss and Get Hard’s protagonists are merely unlikeable and unpleasant, and all-too-believably so.
4. Life of the Party (2018)
Life of the Party represents a big step up from The Boss and is far from being as hard to watch as the 2016 movie. Here, McCarthy stars as a divorced woman who returns to college to complete her degree and ends up becoming, as the title implies, a hard-drinking, hard-partying frat movie heroine. It’s a fun role for McCarthy and a strong ing cast including Neighbors, and Falcone’s choice to play it safe means that Life of the Party never reaches its full potential despite McCarthy’s irable efforts.
3. Thunder Force (2021)
Thunder Force is a superhero spoof that sees McCarthy’s slacker heroine accidentally receive superpowers thanks to an accident involving her estranged former friend (played by Ghostbusters reboot, casting McCarthy as an everywoman instead of the zany lunatic she excels as. It is a small but important mistake that elevates one of Falcone and McCarthy's movies above the rest despite its flaws.
2. Super Intelligence
Of all the duo’s collaborations, it is Super Intelligence alone that could reasonably be called “underrated,” mostly because the movie went under the radar upon its release. A bizarre mashup of rom-com cuteness and Vinyl’s Bobby Cannavale as McCarthy’s love interest before the sci-fi stuff takes over in the final act. While unspectacular, it is an agreeable movie that features none of the grating moments that can make the pair’s lesser films a cringe-inducing watch at times.
1. Tammy
The earliest of Falcone and McCarthy’s five collaborations, Tammy was met with critical revulsion upon release, like many of the Talladega Nights), Mark Duplass, and Sandra Oh. While Tammy doesn’t soar to the comic heights McCarthy is capable of, it’s a raw, rude, and funny movie whose loose, improv-friendly tone and goofy crude humor make it Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone's best collaboration so far.
