I generally enjoy Melissa McCarthy, but her comedic abilities are not enough to overcome the lazy jokes and lopsided film-making that is “Tammy“.

“Tammy” follows titular character Tammy, played by McCarthy, as she experiences an especially bad day. After she hits a deer, is fired from work and learns that her husband is cheating on her, Tammy decides to go on a road trip to Niagara Falls with her hard-drinking grandmother Pearl, played by Susan Sarandon.

One of the first things I noticed about this film was how great of a cast it had. This film is working with great dramatic actors like Kathy Bates and Sarandon alongside comedic talent like Mark Duplass and Dan Aykroyd, but it does not use any of them for any great purpose. The film has funny scenes, but they are far outweighed by all of the gags that fall flat in the film.

McCarthy wrote the film with her husband Ben Falcone, who also directs the film, and I think that may be the reason this movie isn’t good. The character Tammy is so all over the place, but I feel like a good editor could have smoothed out the edges of the movie so the audience could actually understand where the characters were going and why.

Despite a few funny scenes and a solid performance by Bates, “Tammy,” like the central character, falls flat. It is aimless, awkward and a waste of a great collection of actors. McCarthy has shown herself very capable of great comedy, so it is sad to see her pet project turn out so badly.

2 out of 5 Stars