Identity Thief
Metascore
35 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 41 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 41
  3. Negative: 15 out of 41
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  1. Time
    Reviewed by: Mary Pols
    Feb 9, 2013
    30
    It’s just a movie, with a dramatic arc that’s supposed to make all that mean stuff drift away into the ether as friendship is born, but it’s that look that hangs around like a bad smell.
  2. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    Feb 9, 2013
    30
    It would be easier to forgive Identity Thief its overfamiliar comic setups and shameless gag-recycling if the movie’s second half didn’t make such an abrupt about-face from soliciting our revulsion to begging for our pity.
  3. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    Feb 9, 2013
    0
    Identity Thief reaches impressive heights of laziness and idiocy.
  4. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    Feb 8, 2013
    0
    I squirmed in my seat throughout Identity Thief, a colossally unfunny and misguided comedy.
  5. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    Feb 8, 2013
    25
    This feels a lot like some of the recent, unwatchable Adam Sandler offerings: boorish, unfunny comedy colliding with saccharine, quasi-dramatic filler.
  6. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    Feb 8, 2013
    25
    An unsalvageable wreck.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    Feb 8, 2013
    25
    Unfunny, predictable, and vulgar, it’s the generic equivalent of a Judd Apatow movie. As always, you get what you pay for.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    Feb 7, 2013
    25
    Identity Thief is not only not funny. It's negative funny. It's short on laughs, but it will disturb and annoy.
  9. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    Feb 7, 2013
    0
    Watch the trailer, if you must, but spare yourself the full experience: Identity Thief steals time.
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    Feb 7, 2013
    25
    McCarthy’s willingness to go to the mat notwithstanding, it’s viewers who are likely left feeling punched in the gut.
  11. The Playlist
    Reviewed by: Drew Taylor
    Feb 7, 2013
    25
    With long stretches (we're talking 20-30 minutes) without a single guffaw, Identity Thief is aggressively dull, and will joylessly steal two hours of your life that you will never get back.
  12. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    Feb 7, 2013
    38
    Gordon is lost, and his style of shooting - telescopic close-ups, which never give us enough space to appreciate the performers - feels wrong for comedy.
  13. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Joe Williams
    Feb 7, 2013
    38
    Suffering through this felonious farce could only inspire a prison riot.
  14. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    Feb 7, 2013
    25
    The deadly dull action-comedy Identity Thief is an infuriating waste of time, on all sides of camera and screen. I did not know I could yawn angrily. This movie somehow proved it possible.
  15. New York Observer
    Reviewed by: Rex Reed
    Feb 6, 2013
    25
    Identity Thief is so bad it’s hard to believe it wasn’t directed by Judd Apatow or the Farrelly Brothers.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.1 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 76 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 31
  3. Negative: 9 out of 31
  1. moonman1994
    3
    A poorly done comedy. With few comedic moments that haven't already been seen in the previews. I counted that I laughed a total of 3 times the entire movie. The crowd in the theater was responsive but I'm not sure how they found it funny. I honestly was checking my watch and waiting for the film to end. If you like cliche comedy movies then this is the film for you. I will say that there was nothing wrong with the acting or the filming but the writing was just bad. It just wasn't very funny.… Full Review »
  2. Tvtrek
    5
    Very disappointed with this one.
    I was hoping to laugh a lot, but I laugh more watching the previews than watching the movie.
    It was an OK s    tory about stolen identity.… Full Review »
  3. GreatMartin
    1
    The two redeeming features in the movie “Identity Thief” are Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy trying to make a stupid movie funny out of evf every cliche ever heard/seen before in a supposed ‘comedy’. Aside from Paul Rudd Bateman is the best ‘straight’ man in movies today and, in addition, is clean shaven which is quite different for an actor in the films today.

    What is there to say about Melissa McCarthy except that it looks like she is being typecast as the raunchy plus size woman in movies when she, obviously, has so much more to offer as an actress.

    This is an ‘odd couple’ road trip movie with a screenplay by Craig Mazin who hasn’t met a line in any road trip movie that he doesn’t use. He has the two stars beating up each other, running from killers, getting into car races, and crashes, walking away as if nothing had happened. He puts a man and woman in the trunk of a car and nothing does happen. Add to this a director, Seth Gordon, who seems to have attention deficient disorder and is afraid to have the camera on a scene more than a minute or two. What could and should be a funny sex scene has to be the dumbest and lest comic scenic ever put on film not to mention very insulting to overweight people.

    The subject of identity theft is a serious one but can still offer humourous moments and “Identity Thief” has talented actors who could handle both sides of the problem but aren’t given anything to work with.

    Amanda Peet, John Cho and Morris Chestnut offer good supporting performances while Eric Stonestreet forgot to leave Cameron from “Modern Family” off the set and doesn’t do himself any good here.

    Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy and the movie audience deserve a lot better than this.    … Full Review »
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