Life of the Party (2018)
Directed by Ben Falcone
When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna turns regret into re-set by going back to college... landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who's not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna – now Dee Rock – embraces freedom, fun, and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected.
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The supporting characterizations are thin and nondescript, almost as if McCarthy and Falcone watched films like Neighbors , The House Bunny , Legally Blonde and the aforementioned Back to School and decided to see if they could create situations and characters that would purposefully blur the line between homage and plagiarism.
Union enjoyed a moment in “Bad Boys II” where she played the sister of Martin Lawrence’s detective and the love interest of his partner (played by Will Smith), but the real twist was that Union’s character was an undercover law enforcement agent herself.
On her first day of classes she’s decked out in school spirit, bouncing around campus with Mom-like enthusiasm and naiveté; she reminded me of Will Ferrell’s first day in New York in Elf .
There was something far more basic about her approach in this James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”) thriller.
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There is, however, one juicy twist that rivals the killer surprise in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017), a nice moment that very few people in the theater will see coming.