Humor and heart make Can You Ever Forgive Me? a perfect stranger-than-fiction film

Melissa McCarthy is phenomenal in Marielle Heller’s latest feature film detailing the life of biographer-turned-scammer Lee Israel, in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Often, the truth is quite simply more interesting than fiction. This certainly is the case for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, the real-life story of biographer Lee Israel who ended up on the wrong side of the law for forgery after selling letters supposedly penned by iconic authors,  but were actually straight from Israel’s own typewriter.

The story, equal parts sad and funny, is brought to life by Marielle Heller (director of Diary of a Teenage Girl) with the star power of Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. Perhaps not a pair that you’d expect to see in the same sentence, McCarthy as Israel and Grant as Israel’s best friend and partner-in-crime, Jack, works in ways that the imagination couldn’t even begin to think of.

McCarthy’s Lee Israel is a pessimist, a woman who has gone through a divorce plus a deeply distressing career slump and now spends most of her days drinking scotch in various bars around New York. Her bills are unpaid, her days are fruitless, and in the first scene (probably quite rightly) she is fired from her job. Lee’s only solace is her cat, though this is sometimes unidentifiable in her messy, fly-ridden apartment which desperately needs some TLC — as does Lee herself.

A chance re-meeting in a bar between Lee and Jack (the two had previously met a party when the two were much younger — an event involving Jack, vomit and a coat cupboard), leads to them becoming firm, if oddly matched friends. Both are equally matched in their drinking capabilities, disdain for the rest of society and also, a much sadder despair at where their lives have ended up. The accidental discovery of a valuable literary letter leads Lee to the realization that she can use her writing talents to forge letters from iconic authors and sell them to collectors.

The mix of cutting dialogue and the casting of McCarthy and Grant for the two main roles leads to a sharp mix of comedy and drama simultaneously. Within minutes, scenes change from laugh out loud funny to crushing devastation; the script has an uncanny ability to make one feel like laughing and crying at the very same moment. McCarthy is a huge part of why this works. She brings her trademark comedy (Lee Israel’s character is not unlike cynical comedy roles McCarthy has played before), but she is being given the space to show her strengths as a more serious actor, which she does incredibly well. Grant is a worthy opponent, able to give as good as he gets in terms of snark and attitude, and it’s wonderful to see him in a leading role as opposed to the bit parts and cameos he has playing recently.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? also relies strongly on its supporting cast. The likes of Stephen Spinella, Jane Curtin, and Marc Evan Jackson help make the story feel real and genuine. The multitude of booksellers and collectors all add to the mystery of this world Lee has managed to immerse herself in, and potential love interest Anna (Dolly Wells) is another wonderful addition to the narrative, which provides Lee with even more depth.

Overall though, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a story about loneliness. Heller paints the backdrop of New York City as a desperate place to be when one lives in near isolation. Lee’s world feels cold and unfriendly before she rekindles her friendship with Jack. As the two concoct their scheme, the screen begins to fill with warmer hues and there are fewer tight close-ups of Lee’s face – a sign that she is less alone, less isolated, and her world has opened up (even if she is resistant to this at times).

The loneliness is not just about other people, though. Lee’s isolation is also from her work. Writing the letters brings her closer to writing, the thing she really loves more than anything. Not being able to write for money has clearly shaped Lee into the pessimistic, cynical and generally unfriendly person she is at the beginning of the film. And as she says during the court hearing – this experience may just have been the greatest time of her life.

Marielle Heller’s second feature film is, like her first, filled with complex and intriguing characters who are presented to us as just that. Lee is not likable, and fortunately, Heller doesn’t try to make her appear as such. Instead, she weaves a rich tapestry of conflicting ideas and emotions, because that is exactly how people really are.