Jason Bateman is one of my favorites in comedy genre ( Horrible Bosses , This Is Where I leave You , Extract , Game Night , Date night etc ) and Melissa McCarthy can be funny ( The Heat , Spy ) but this movie has nothing to do with comedy or fun . NOT recommended .

Moderately amusing "comedy" following a Denver businessman (Jason Bateman) who chases Melissa McCarthy -an Orlando thief who stole his identity and ruined his credit rating with a huge spending spree. When the local authorities refuse to do anything he heads to Orlando to personally capture her.I don't think I actually LOL at any point during this movie, parts were uncomfortable, the humour crass especially on Melissa McCarthy's part, she is just a horrible person in this. Bateman plays it straight, almost dull his character. I did enjoy the redemptive ending and cameos by Jon Favreau, Robert Patrick, Robert banks and John Cho.The storyline is somewhat implausible too, what with the police not helping or phoning to inform of spending in another state and also being okay with Bateman going after a criminal. The road trip however is amusing with influences of 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles'.

I don't know why this movie got such a raw deal and bashing from the reviewers. The plot has humor and heart and I thought it was very good, it made me laugh a bunch and I recommend that anyone looking for fun entertainment should see it. To be certain, Identity Thief will win no major awards. What it will do is entertain you for about 90 minutes with great laughs. The movie is good for both sexes and most ages. If you enjoyed Bridesmaids or The Hangover then this is right up your alley. I love the lead actors and the rest of other cast is pretty good, too. Melissa McCarthy gives a hilarious and spot on performance of a sociopath con-woman. She has quickly moved to my number one favorite comedy actor. Melissa and Jason Bateman have great chemistry. The premise of the movie is a guy has his identity stolen and must go after the girl who stole it. Of course, the main story is really predictable, we know just by reading the plot that the guy will not really give her to the police, but there's lots of unpredictable moments which makes you entertained anyway. Sit back and enjoy.

There are many parts of this film that could be seen as social commentary; the ease of identity theft, the lack of care and downright ridiculous behaviour of the police, the attitudes to different levels of crime, and consequences for actions. Yet if you treat it as a goofy romp, then there are some laughs along the way. It just gets let down by Diana (Melissa McCarthy) trying to be both an evil genius, while stopping short of being evil, resulting in her coming across as irritating. And Diana isn't even her real name.Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is a penny watching accountant who pays plenty of attention at work, but has his life unravel when he gives away too much information to a con artist, meaning he has to take the law into his own hands to get his life back. As with other McCarthy films, she's the street smart one who points out what the straight, more educated, characters faults are, and along the way, they get to know each other better. In the end he uses some of her tricks to get through and she learns from him to redeem herself. Along the way they're chased by other criminals who she's sold fake IDs too, and a Skiptracer, played by Robert Patrick (in an almost parody of his T1000 role from Terminator 2).The plot and script are contrived - so instead of Sandy simply saying "she's bad, and here's why", he skates around the issue and ends up looking like the bad guy - yet it could have actually benefited from borrowing more from other movies, such as, you know early on that Sandy has a horrible boss (Jon Favreau), who is going to get some comeuppance, it's just a question of how and what happens, and frankly, could have been worse. It's crude, without being overly evil.