Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Jane Curtin, Gregory Korostishevsky, Stephen Spinella, Christian Navarro, Pun Bandhu, Erik LaRay Harvey, Brandon Scott Jones, Shae D’lyn, Rosal Colon, Anna Deavere Smith, Marc Evan Jackson, Marcella Lowery, Roberta Wallach, Tina Benko, Sandy Rosenberg, Kevin Carolan, Ben Rauch, Ethel Fisher, Chris Lamberth, Joanna Adler, Mary B. McCann, Michael Laurence, Michael Cyril Crieighton, Alice Kremelberg, Moises Acevedo, Lucy DeVito, Josh Evans, Ricky Garcia, Charlotte Mary Wen, Marcus Choi, Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Tim Cummings.
There are two ways to look at the world of writing, one is that is a remarkable test of endurance, a battle between heart and mind in the use of imagination and the magic that some believes takes place as the subconscious thought reigns and the other side of the coin, that in which some argue there is nothing to it, just the application of words in the right order, that it takes no real talent, no dedication, and no sense of self exploration to guide through what some would declaim as not being a “proper job”.
Can You Ever Forgive Me shows the disparity between art as a function and creativity as a way of educating and forming ideas, of being more than just a measure of success and yet how society turns their back on such people in the search for the more intimate, the belief that comes with attaching oneself to the instant celebrity.
Based on the extraordinary events that shaped a period in Lee Israel’s life, broke, shunned, treated extraordinarily badly by the very people that had once embraced her, Can You Ever Forgive Me is not just a story of revenge on a system that chases the easily caught, the ones who play a certain game to its fullest commitment, but a warning, a reminder to those who see art as a vital cog in society, that you will always be treated as a God, or as a forgotten piece of furniture, a literary run down sofa with the stuffing kicked out of it.
Melissa McCarthy arguably divides opinion and yet in this particular feature it can be seen just why she commands attention, not only brutally witty but acerbically truthful in her portrayal of the woman who fooled the world of collectors and the market for memorabilia. This is not to suggest for a moment that Lee Israel’s way of making money is to be condoned, but it should come as no surprise when it actually happens, when someone who has been kicked for so long, finds a way to bite back. The resulting harm is not to be admired, but the application of revenge is perfect.
An unashamedly poignant film, one that frames the way we often treat the writer in the modern age, a far from ideal world to which those who play a certain game will prosper at the expense of those who are capable of making someone love words.
Ian D. Hall