This will be McCarthy’s fourth effort with director Ben Falcone, and we need it to be their best one yet.
Melissa McCarthy, one of the most consistently funny leading ladies out there, had a pretty quiet 2017. However, she is definitely preparing for a great comeback this year, with a ton of new projects either awaiting release or currently in the works.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that McCarthy has added the action-comedy Super-Intelligence to her busy slate. The film will see McCarthy re-team with husband — actor and director Ben Falcone — who she has worked with multiple times prior in both an acting and directorial capacity. Falcone specifically directed McCarthy in Tammy, The Boss, and the upcoming Life of the Party. For Super-Intelligence, he will work from a screenplay by Steve Mallory, who also co-wrote The Boss with Falcone and McCarthy herself.
According to THR, the Super-Intelligence synopsis goes as follows:
“McCarthy will play Carol Peters, a former corporate executive whose earnest yet unfulfilled life is turned upside down when she is selected for observation by the world’s first super-intelligence — an artificial intelligence that may or may not take over the world.”
As with other McCarthy and Falcone partnerships, Super-Intelligence focuses on the life of a very ordinary woman who gets thrown into extreme and maybe even brutal circumstances. However, the premise for Super-Intelligence automatically sounds extra fascinating to me, simply because I’m a sucker for anything to do with sci-fi tropes. AI absolutely falls within that bracket, even if there’s a more comedic take involved; arguably, it’d be a great thing to include some laughs amidst such a typically serious conceit.
The verdict is still out on whether McCarthy and Falcone make a foolproof comedy duo, when neither of their released collaborations has garnered positive reviews. That’s not to say that McCarthy cannot work under less-than-stellar circumstances — even a messy film like The Boss doesn’t negate her talents in the slightest.
Make no mistake that McCarthy is always hilarious and would at least make her appearance in Super-Intelligence worthwhile. Her propensity to be sweet and lovable as Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls back in the day and receive a raunchy comedy comeback in Bridesmaids aptly highlights her versatility as a performer. She doesn’t need the magic of Paul Feig, although his strong directorial vision does help. The Ghostbusters reboot is fun and enjoyable despite what some trolls say, and a lot of that has to do with its stellar leading ladies; McCarthy plays it less outrageous in this one, but steals the show with her enthusiasm and wide-eyed wonderment that we first really witnessed on Gilmore Girls.
That said, my favorite film of McCarthy’s has to be Spy, because it’s a film that combines all of the above-listed characteristics into an explosive, taut and thrilling ride. Furthermore, at the time, the film let McCarthy rise above being a quirky ensemble film addition or one half of a buddy cop duo. Spy is a great example of an action movie spoof done right. McCarthy deserves more films like this, and Super-Intelligence really ought to deliver.
McCarthy has four movies that are expected to come out beforehand, starting with Life of the Party on May 11th. Then there’s The Happytime Murders, the neo-noir comedy thriller with puppets, coming in August. McCarthy will make a mark in more dramatic fare with the biographical drama-thriller Can You Ever Forgive Me?, due out in October.
And finally, there’s The Kitchen, one of the coolest-sounding projects out there at the moment, with new comedy legend Tiffany Haddish plus Elisabeth Moss. There are reasons for this to be touted as the most badass movie to be out next year, but it’s also an opportunity for McCarthy to dabble in a genre that she doesn’t normally get to sink her teeth into: the crime drama.
With the announcement of Super-Intelligence though — provided the film does well — she definitely doesn’t appear to be turning her back on her comedic roots any time soon.
Related Topics: Melissa McCarthy
