“Deanna: What am I going to do? I’m a forty-something year-old woman that doesn’t even have her degree. Oh, my God. I know what I’m going to do.”
This is the main point of the movie as Deanna, on the eve of her daughters senior year in college, finds out that her husband wants a divorce. Heart broken, she doesn’t want to have any regrets as the biggest regret of her life faces her head on, that of the fact that she had to drop out of college being so close to graduating with her degree in Archeology. The problem is, she is now enrolled in the same school as her daughter.
The Warner Brother film stars Melissa McCartney as the middle age woman who seeks to do just that and surprisingly the crowd that she encounters in college is remarkably accepting of her as she navigates anew around the campus that she once receded at more than 20 years ago.
Overall at first mention of having another “party” film starring McCartney, might sound a little like “over the top”, with that of her stand up comedy and crude humor, but all in all, this film is the best that I’ve seen in a while by her. The film has a solid message of the power of the mother daughter bond that even though there are a few funny, yet embarrassing moments where McCartney and daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) strive to succeed in getting back on top after her father runs off with another younger woman.
The plot thickens when McCartney meets Jack, an attractive younger man and the two of them form a intimate relationship, especial when she realizes whose mother is Jacks.
The film is packed with the same quirkiness that makes McCartney appealing with just a touch of maturity as it enters into a slightly elevated storyline. In addition the chemistry between McCartney and Gordon is exceptional and realistic as it shows just how close a mother- daughter relationship can be while at the same time, the same embarrassing thought of ‘mom in college’ haunts Gordon all throughout. Seeing as Gordon is a relative unknown, it’ll be interesting to watch her grow and mature as a rising actress. She definitely has a knack for comedy going up against McCartney who is known for it.
Overall LIfe of the Party came out in theaters, in perfect time for the Mother’s day weekend. It’s a film that is best to see for women with their moms as it perfectly captures the uniqueness and emotion that goes into someone facing divorce and having to start anew with a daughter as the only good thing in one’s life. It came in second at the box office with just over 17.8 million, though it wasn’t enough to catch the Avengers: Infinity War which is topping 1 billion domestically.
See Life of the Party in a theater near you.