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Here's a look at the new movie I saw this week.

Life of the Party
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Gillian Jacobs, Julie Bowen, Stephen Root, and Molly Gordon
Synopsis: Imagine being a woman in her middle years who devoted the better part of her 20s and all her 30s to supporting her husband and raising her daughter only to see it all go up in smoke when her husband tells her it's over. He's found a more exciting woman and he's ready to move on. Imagine being a college senior, trying to savor your last year of freedom and being young and unencumbered, then realizing you'll be going to school and sharing a social life with your mom. Both those sound a bit like nightmare scenarios. And both those scenarios sit at the heart of "Life of the Party," a new comedy that arrived in theaters just in time for Mother's Day. In it Deanna (McCarthy) has just dropped her daughter off for senior year and is looking forward to a four-week Italian vacation with her husband, Dan (Matt Walsh), who tells her he has found love with a local realtor (Bowen) and is ready to get a divorce. Poof, her life is turned upside down. With the encouragement of her parents (Jacki Weaver and Root), Deanna decides to head back to her alma mater to finish her degree, after dropping out just a year short. That's the same school where her daughter, Maddie (Gordon), is finishing her degree. So that makes for some awkward times. But eventually Maddie and her sorority sisters take to having Deanna in their social circle, and Deanna works hard to finish her degree and find a new direction for her life. McCarthy has become a queen of these kind of comedies in recent years, often serving as the writer and producer, as she does here, alongside her co-writer/director husband Ben Falcone (who also has a fun cameo early in the film). They are a great team, and it shows in the craft of the film. He knows how to get the most from McCarthy in these stories and let her shine. And in that way, this movie is fun. Supporting players like Jacobs, who plays a fellow student enrolled after spending eight years in a coma, and Rudolph, who plays Deanna's best friend, are also a lot of fun. And I really enjoyed Gordon in the role of Maddie. I thought she actually had some of the best lines, and carried off a difficult and easy to overlook part. I thought this movie had a breezy flow and some amusing moments. McCarthy is strong in the lead role, and I enjoyed the cast. It isn't particularly deep or surprising, but it works as a nice piece of summer entertainment.
Rating: PG-13 for sexual material, drug content and partying.
Verdict: Two stars out of four.

Upcoming Releases:
Friday, May 18: "Book Club," "Deadpool 2," "Show Dogs"
Friday, May 25: "Solo: A Star Wars Story"

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