Celebrity biographer Lee Israel makes her living profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack.
Can you ever Forgive me? Is about an author who turns to fraudulent letters in order to pay the bills when her books stop selling, what makes this film really unique is the topic of the plot and the manner in which it depicts characters, emotions and professions alike in a fairly modern day New York. I also found it to be a really unique film too in terms of plot and character perception, the plot is really not something that has been touched upon by films recently. This is exactly what intruiged me into wanting to watch this film. Here are my thoughts.
One of my favourite things about this film was the variety of characters and the perceptions that we were given of them, this was heavily influenced by the really good character introductions at the beginning of the film. By showing the characters going about their daily life and then encountering issues and problems that they have really gave us a good in depth introduction to the variety of characters which definitely helped to give them a personal touch. For example, seeing the two characters together in the bar constantly gave us the perception that maybe they enjoyed a few too many drinks (who doesn't to be fair?!) and that they were social outcasts due to the fact that they were both failed writers and unsuccessful at what they were currently doing in life. This perception of them 'at the bottom' was really well shown to us, by showing us her being unable to pay for her cats medicine and being unable to afford rent, not only did this very clearly give her a label but it also gave her a personal and emotional feeling which was heavily used to model and shape the characters throughout the film. I also really enjoyed seeing the variety of different relationships and connections that the characters had within the film, yes they weren't exactly popular, but this made their encounters with others more entertaining because it helped to solidify their personalities and characteristics of being lonely and unsociable characters. The variety of relationships also made the film really entertaining and made it feel genuine too which felt really nice and allowed us to be able to really build a connection with them too. I also feel that the strong lineup of characters really helped to relay the plot to us too which made the whole film really easy and simple to follow because we were able to really follow the characters emotions, decisions and how they evolved throughout the film. This was really beneficial because it ensured that the film really made sense and could easily be interpreted too, despite the film being a little bit slow I feel that the plot made real sense and was full of interesting surprises which kept the film really interesting and engaging for us. The film seemed to move quickly in some areas though which had a really interesting effect, for example it really made us feel on edge and tense and it was exciting to see the changes in perception from the police to Lee, these types of switches in perception really helped to add a sense of urgency and excitement to the film that was really needed.
There was definitely a strong feeling of loneliness that was given off from characters in the film which also had a really powerful and string impact on the audience, it really helped to hit home the genuine struggles of not only normal, everyday people but the film also gave us an unpleasant, yet intriguing insight into the book industry too. What I especially liked about this film was that the characters felt really relatable, engaging, down to Earth yet somewhat distant and mysterious at the same time and this was perfectly relayed to the audience. These techniques were used to have a powerful series of emotional effects on the audience, from feeling guilt to on edge to humour, I feel that this film maybe didn't need to use as many emotional impacts that it did but I still feel that these were powerful and had a great effect on the plot and the characters alike. This was achieved by the great set of actors and acting during this film, I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Melissa McCarthy (especially after happytime murders as it feels like her films aren't very funny or have the intended effect 9 times out of 10, however this is the 1 time it hit home). She does a good job here. She doesn't completely disappear into the role but its a believable performance that showcases her best qualities. The film is proficient in mixing comedy with humor and brings forth a rather intriguing plot in a way that keeps you engaged that delves into a plot that feels purposeful and unique. This film felt really personal though, the main character wasn't a superhero, or a rich superstar but instead, a lonely, failing author who sought friendship in desperate souls. A real character. This movie is definitely not a comedy and the performers did a great job of capturing people who are not always made for this world. Solidly directed by Marielle Heller and with a literate screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty that captures the 90's sensibilities very well, the film spends a great deal of time establishing Lee's self-enforced exile from the human race and her illegal 'get-rich scheme'. The true life story of an author unable to cope with the harsh realities of life is very well executed and creates a fascinating subject.
This film wasn't perfect though, I found myself confused as to who some characters were as they seemed to be introduced fairly rapidly towards the beginning and that made the overall character Lee seem quite confusing, especially when she starts meeting people that the audience aren't aware of but eventually realise it's an ex partner. Many of the parts of this film that contained information as to why decisions and choices were made were actually really hidden beneath the depths, and sometimes took a short while to wonder how it happened. For example, we didn't see any of her author career during the prime of her career, or as to why/how her cat died, I definitely feel that this film would be much better received if small scenes to establish these events and characters were used just to give us a better perception of how far she had dropped as this would have definitely given us a better insight into the character. I will be honest though, the film was really slow and the plot unraveled slowly which for some parts of the film made them seem rather too long and therefore had a negative effect because it felt as if far too much time was being spent on small parts of the film, such as her conversations in the bar.
Another issue that I had with the film was that it seemed quite frustrating seeing how the characters were't really brought alive, I understand they were fairly solitary characters but there didn't feel like enough was done to help us really get on the characters side during the fake letter writings. This then made us feel like we were watching on the sideline and not actively engaging with the film like we were supposed to. Again, this was shown by the fact that there wasn't much of a story and because of this it didn't feel as engaging and as creative as the film could have been.
Overall, I would give this film an 8. I feel that it was really nicely executed to portray a slightly different caliber of character and it created a really intriguing ecosystem through Lee's eyes which offer a very different viewing to many other films. I also think that the film is really unique due to the creative and exciting plot idea too, and the acting in this film creates a really intriguing and exciting theme which relays a variety of different powerful emotions to us which combine to make for a great viewing. However the film just didn't feel powerful enough to have the full intended effect on the audience and it definitely didn't delve deep enough into the characters lives to make them really relatable and exciting which was a problem for me. The film was also awfully slow, and despite this not being a problem for me, it may well be a problem for various other audiences who expect slightly more fast paced action and the most action we got was between the FBI and Lee. Although the ending scene definitely helped to round off the film very well.
Thanks for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review. Have a lovely day! :)
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