Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

A misanthropic writer (Melissa McCarthy) falls on hard times financially. So she begins forging letters from famous people and selling them to collectors. The money begins pouring in but how long before she's discovered as the fraud she is? Based on the autobiography by Lee Israel and directed by Marielle Heller. I thought the film's trailer looked lousy so I was pleasantly surprised at how good this turned out to be. There's a dark undercurrent of wit running through out the film which is a good thing considering the film's two main protagonists (Richard E. Grant as her street pal is the other) are essentially despicable people. Well, McCarthy's character gets some plus points for being a cat lover but these are not people you'd want to spend time with nor would they want to spend time with you. McCarthy gives a career best performance and it's a treat to see her step outside of her usually blustery and vulgar comic persona and give a terrific performance. This could have been a one note performance in the hands of a lesser actress but McCarthy lets us see all her shadings. With Jane Curtin (very good), Dolly Wells and Anna Deavere Smith.