SYNOPSIS: Horrible Bosses' Jason Bateman and Bridesmaids' Melissa McCarthy lead the cast of Identity Thief, an all-star comedy in which a regular guy is forced to extreme measures to clear his name. With everything to lose after his identity is stolen, he'll find out how crazed you can get trying to settle a bad credit score. 

Unlimited funds have allowed Diana (McCarthy) to live it up on the outskirts of Miami, where the queen of retail buys whatever strikes her fancy. There's only one glitch: The ID she's using to finance these sprees reads "Sandy Bigelow Patterson"... and it belongs to an accounts rep (Bateman) who lives halfway across the U.S. 

With only one week to hunt down the con artist before his world implodes, the real Sandy Bigelow Patterson heads south to confront the woman with an all-access pass to his life. And as he attempts to bribe, coax and wrangle her the 2,000 miles to Denver, one easy target will discover just how tough it is to get your name back. 

REVIEW: Director Seth Gordon, who is no newbie to the comedy genre, teams up with [re-]writer, Craig Mazin (The Hangover Part II & [supposedly Hangover III]). Gordon, also known for being part of the team that brought us breakout hits such as Horrible Bosses and Four Christmases, has made a slam-dunk with this latest production. Identity Thief is amazingly a side-splitting; Laugh out loud, comedy that is most certainly the hit of 2013.

Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses, 2011) headlines this one as an “all about his family, type of guy” and corporate middleman Sandy Patterson whom, unfortunately, has his identity stolen by a scheming Floridian con-artist played by Melissa McCarthy. As his finances implode and his credit crumbles, he decides to fly from Denver to the Sunshine State to retrieve her and have her arrested. Well, as you can imagine with this pair that decision leads to a volatile comedic explosion resulting in an on-screen rip-roaring time. 

The leading lady Melissa McCarthy’s breakout role in the blockbuster comedy Bridesmaids (2011) has set the tone for everything that followed. Though she has appeared in numerous TV comedies including the Gilmore Girls and more recently ABC sitcom Mike and Molly, she seems quite comfortable in the big-screen arena now. She has achieved major success since that breakout role and has often been labeled as the female John Bellushi and John Candy, of today, with her raucous, outlandish, comedic prowess. Subsequently, it’s to no surprise that the comedy dexterity of both McCarthy and Bateman sets up the quality of comedy presented here. I suppose if anybody is going to be able to mix broad comedy with serious criminals who pose a serious threat; these two actors are a good bet, with the comedic timing between the two being extremely precise and on point. 

Rapper-turned-actor, T.I. (Takers, 2010) is in a supporting role playing a sorta’ gangster bounty hunter and does what I believe to be a nicely added touch of grittiness to the flick. In addition, eye candy and local Miami hometown girl, Genesis Rodriguez (What to Expect When You're Expecting, 2011) rounds out the cool cast of players that bring this hilarious outing to full-circle.

I definitely recommend this feature for theater viewing. It’ll have you rolling in your seats from the opening credits to the very end and would most certainly be a nice date-movie. It is absolutely a four star movie (out of five) and I suspect that we haven’t seen the last of this group of misfits. Hint hint!

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