Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The second film in my indie double feature was Can You Ever Forgive Me?  Melissa McCarthy plays Lee Israel, a curmudgeonly author who prefers the company of her cat to people.  She has just lost her job and her agent (Jane Curtain) won't return her calls so, in desperation, she sells a personal letter from Katharine Hepburn to a dealer for a substantial amount of money.  While she is doing research for a book at the New York Public Library she finds a signed letter from Fanny Brice.  She takes the letter back to the same dealer but is offered a low price because the content isn't very noteworthy.  When she discovers that her typewriter has the same font as the letter, she embellishes it and takes it to another dealer who pays a much larger sum.  She then begins forging letters from other authors, most notably Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker, which becomes very lucrative.  She is extremely adept at mimicking the tone and idiosyncrasies of the various authors and regards her forgeries as her best work.  When one of her letters raises suspicion and dealers stop buying from her, she enlists the help of an old friend named Jack (Richard E. Grant) to sell the letters but he ultimately betrays her when confronted by the FBI.  This is a darkly comedic film in which a deeply flawed character eventually finds a sort of redemption (one of my favorite themes).  Melissa McCarthy gives a brilliant performance (earning some early Oscar buzz), turning Lee into an incredibly sympathetic character despite her behavior.  I liked the juxtaposition between Lee and Jack because Lee is misanthropic and difficult while Jack is full of charisma and charm.  They have some fantastic dialogue as two lonely people who only have each other banter back and forth.  I actually found the character of Lee to be refreshing in that she is unapologetic and I really enjoyed this film.  It might not be for everyone but I highly recommend it!