Melissa McCarthy (“Mike and Molly”) plays the character Michelle Darnell, a CEO of a successful company. She has a filthy mouth and a truly epic collection of unique turtlenecks. She is also a narcissistic millionaire businesswoman who loses everything after going to jail for insider trading and comes out broke but driven to get back on top. She’s clueless on how to live without everything being given to her and unlimited funds. Michelle quickly discovers her purpose, which is money, fame and more turtlenecks.

She then inserts herself into the life of her former assistant, Claire (played by Kristen Bell, “Zootopia”) and Claire’s daughter, Rachel (played by Ella Anderson “Unfinished Business.”) Michelle conjures up the idea to turn Claire’s baking into a product line that will displace the film’s Girl Scout stand into a nonprofit organization peddling cookies nationwide. From there Claire and Michelle start a new business venture but among the obstacles are Darnell’s personal issues and anyone she screwed over in the past. Among the wronged is the annoying but entertaining former business rival and broken hearted ex Renault (played by Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones.”)

This movie is a comedy, but it lacked laughs. There was too much vulgar language that wasn’t always funny. It seems as if the writers forgot this was a comedy and at the last minute scrambled to fit in lame jokes and filthy language. McCarthy has never been shy about vulgarity, but sometimes it can be taken too far, which is what happened in this film.

From pratfalls to a brawl between two rival teenaged girl groups selling baked goods, it seemed like this film would do anything for a laugh. McCarthy threw herself down a flight of stairs when there was no opportunity for her character to be clever. One scene literally throws her against the wall, as if the writers could only decide by seeing it, if this idea to be funny was a good one. It wasn’t all bad though. There was some really fun moments.

McCarthy teamed up with her husband Ben Falcone, who played Marty and co-wrote the script (“Tammy.”) This is the second time he’s directed her, the first being “Tammy,” a film that was clearly far funnier on paper than it sadly ended up being on screen. This time it feels much more natural, works better and although the comedy can lull at times, when it’s funny, it’s really funny, even if those moments were scarce. There are also a few solid, standout scenes and set pieces nestled in amongst the rest of the film. A finely handled street fight, bra related jokes, ‘80s throwbacks and a hilarious shower scene were memorable.

If you’re not already a McCarthy fan, this film probably won’t change your mind, but there are some hard laughs to be had and people who love her work will love this film. This film was worth paying for the ticket but it won’t necessarily have you anticipating another film. The struggle for laughs was noticeable but there was some really good laughs stuck in there.

Overall, it was a decent film. If you are already a Melissa McCarthy fan you will not be disappointed. As for everyone else it was good but not amazing. Aside from McCarthy’s performance, which isn’t her best but is still entertaining, the rest of the cast fill their roles out nicely even if they are overshadowed. The real gem in the film was the use of creative swearing. Though there were many, some were actually funny. McCarthy delivers filth like no other.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5