Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Lee Israel's story is all too common among writers.  At least the preamble that led to her crimes.  How many scribes found themselves unable to pay the rent because they found their words out of public favor? No longer salable? Lee penned biographies of luminaries that once found readers and their money, but her latest, the critical and commercial failure of her tome on Estee Lauder, ends up in the discount bin. Her agent tells her to dress better and learn to schmooze. She drinks heavily, but maybe the cause and effect there isn't so easily defined.  She doesn't have enough to pay for the medical bills of her cat, her seeming only friend.  Given her state she would probably disagree with the adage, "It was better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."

But an idea emerges after she discovers a letter written by Fanny Brice, a potential subject for her new book.  Adding colorful postscripts to one fetches her hundreds of dollars from local bookstores.  Lee certainly never intended to become a criminal, but actually making a living in NYC is tough to dismiss.  And she gets to use her creative talents and be appreciated for them.  What writer wouldn't be addicted, even if they all know how such a story has to end?

Along the way, Lee (Melissa McCarthy) finds a kindred spirit in an old acquaintance named Jack (Richard E. Grant), a gay hustler who also likes to drink.  He's bitter and unreliable, apparently homeless.  But kinda fun to have around.  And later, a business partner, though tellingly Lee berates him for treating the goods as merely that, not important literature, authenticated or otherwise.  Er, at least in theory.  Interesting point there.

2018's CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is a true NYC story that pulses with NYC life.  Director Marielle Heller shot the film there and captures the city and its feel as well as I've seen lately.   It is as much a character as anyone, though McCarthy and Grant deliver marvelous performances and the film just wouldn't sail without them.  I love when comedians get to show their acting chops for real, especially after they've been wasted in so many disposable comedies as McCarthy has been.

The film is very nicely directed.   Heller knows exactly how to get a rhythm and stay with it.  She's not flashy or attention seeking, but has the eye of slightly outgoing observer.  The screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty does have its share of predictabilities:

-You just know we'll get a scene of Lee's landlord asking for the rent after we've just had a montage of her financial woes.

-We also know what will happen when Jack is entrusted with the care of Lee's beloved cat .

-There will be a scene with Lee and a bookstore owner giving each other sad looks through a window after the latter learns of the former's misdeeds.  An inference would've been enough.

But the film thankfully does not give us a lot of detective/FBI harrasment moments.  And the courtroom scene doesn't fall into cliche. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? breaks no new cinematic ground, but is a small triumph for all concerned.  Crisp and entertaining.  Nice song choices.   It also reminds us what a treasure Grant is.