(Photo by Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)
All Melissa McCarthy Movies Ranked
Since breaking out on the big screen with her scene-stealing appearance in the hit 2011 comedy Bridesmaids, Melissa McCarthy has earned a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most fearless — and gut-bustingly funny — stars, proving her willingness to endure even the most awkward situations and ego-bruising pratfalls in follow-up efforts like The Heat, Spy, and Ghostbusters. But McCarthy isn’t just here to make us laugh — she’s also proven her dramatic chops in more subdued fare like St. Vincent and Gilmore Girls, leading up to a Best Lead Actress Oscar nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me?.
Now, we’re ranking all Melissa McCarthy movies by Tomatometer!
#21
Adjusted Score: 22333%
Critics Consensus: Jennifer Lopez is as appealing as ever, but The Back-Up Plan smothers its star with unrelatable characters and a predictable plot.
Synopsis: Tired of waiting for Mr. Right while her biological clock ticks away, Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) decides it's time to make...
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#20
Adjusted Score: 25970%
Critics Consensus: Identity Thief's few laughs are attributable to Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman, who labor mightily to create a framework for the movie's undisciplined plotline.
Synopsis: Florida resident Diana (Melissa McCarthy) has a luxurious lifestyle as the queen of retail, buying whatever strikes her fancy --...
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#19
Adjusted Score: 28224%
Critics Consensus: Less a comedy than an angrily dark action thriller, The Hangover Part III diverges from the series' rote formula but offers nothing compelling in its place.
Synopsis: It's been two years since the gang known as the Wolfpack narrowly escaped disaster in Bangkok. Now, Phil (Bradley Cooper),...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 28115%
Critics Consensus: It's got a few chuckles, but Thunder Force is largely a superhero comedy that's neither exciting nor funny -- and an egregious waste of its co-stars' talents.
Synopsis: Two childhood best friends reunite as an unlikely crime-fighting superhero duo when one invents a formula that gives ordinary people...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 33094%
Critics Consensus: Melissa McCarthy remains as fiercely talented as ever, but her efforts aren't enough to prop up the baggy mess of inconsistent gags and tissue-thin writing that brings down The Boss.
Synopsis: Wealthy CEO Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) always gets her way, until she's busted for insider trading and sent to federal...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 37933%
Critics Consensus: The Happytime Murders wastes its intriguingly transgressive premise on a witless comedy that blindly pushes buttons instead of attempting to tell an entertaining story.
Synopsis: Detective Phil Philips is a down-on-his-luck puppet who used to work for the Los Angeles Police Department. When two puppets...
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#15
Adjusted Score: 31740%
Critics Consensus: Melissa McCarthy remains an engaging screen presence, but her efforts aren't enough to keep the jumbled Tammy on track.
Synopsis: For Tammy (Melissa McCarthy), a burger-joint waitress, a bad day keeps getting worse. She wrecks her car, loses her job...
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#14
Adjusted Score: 37103%
Critics Consensus: With three talented leads struggling to prop up a sagging story, The Kitchen is a jumbled crime thriller in urgent need of some heavy-duty renovation.
Synopsis: Between 8th Ave. and the Hudson River, the Irish mafia runs 20 blocks of a tough New York City neighborhood...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 15703%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: As a buffet of quirky contestants prepares for the renowned Van Rookle Farms Cooking Contest, the heat is on to...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 34503%
Critics Consensus: Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel make a charming couple with plenty of chemistry, but that isn't enough to make up for Life as We Know It's formulaic plot and poorly written script.
Synopsis: After a disastrous first date, the only things Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) have in common...
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#11
Adjusted Score: 34971%
Critics Consensus: You won't need Superintelligence to steer clear of the latest forgettable comedy to fail to take full advantage of Melissa McCarthy's talents.
Synopsis:
When an all-powerful Superintelligence, played by James Cordon, chooses to study the most average person on Earth, Carol Peters, played...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 7507%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When Stanley met Diana, he hadn't been on a date in years. She was easily the most appealing woman he'd...
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#9
Adjusted Score: 38846%
Critics Consensus: The messy Pumpkin wastes its premise by not making the satire sharp enough.
Synopsis: Carolyn's (Christina Ricci) sorority sisters set their sights on the Sorority of the Year award and coaching challenged athletes is...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 46022%
Critics Consensus: Life of the Party's good-natured humor and abundance of onscreen talent aren't enough to make up for jumbled direction and a script that misses far more often than it hits.
Synopsis: When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime and dedicated housewife Deanna turns regret into reset by going back to college....
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#7
Adjusted Score: 60397%
Critics Consensus: Judd Apatow definitely delivers funny and perceptive scenes in This is 40, even if they are buried in aimless self-indulgence.
Synopsis: After many years of marriage, Pete (Paul Rudd) is the sole male in a household that includes his wife, Debbie...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 66871%
Critics Consensus: Though The Nines doesn't solidify as well as writer/director John August would hope for, Ryan Reynolds's strong performance makes each of the film's intriguing segments worth watching.
Synopsis: Three actors (Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy) tackle the principal roles in a trio of stories. In "The Prisoner,"...
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#5
Adjusted Score: 72239%
Critics Consensus: The Heat is predictable, but Melissa McCarthy is reliably funny and Sandra Bullock proves a capable foil.
Synopsis: FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a methodical investigator with a long-standing reputation for excellence -- and arrogance....
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#4
Adjusted Score: 97941%
Critics Consensus: Ghostbusters does an impressive job of standing on its own as a freewheeling, marvelously cast supernatural comedy -- even if it can't help but pale somewhat in comparison with the classic original.
Synopsis: Paranormal researcher Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) and physicist Erin Gilbert are trying to prove that ghosts exist in modern society....
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#3
Adjusted Score: 100623%
Critics Consensus: A marriage of genuine characters, gross out gags, and pathos, Bridesmaids is a female-driven comedy that refuses to be boxed in as Kristen Wiig emerges as a real star.
Synopsis: Annie (Kristen Wiig) is a single woman whose own life is a mess, but when she learns that her lifelong...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 104595%
Critics Consensus: Simultaneously broad and progressive, Spy offers further proof that Melissa McCarthy and writer-director Paul Feig bring out the best in one another -- and delivers scores of belly laughs along the way.
Synopsis: Despite having solid field training, CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) has spent her entire career as a desk jockey,...
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#1
Adjusted Score: 117563%
Critics Consensus: Deftly directed and laced with dark wit, Can You Ever Forgive Me? proves a compelling showcase for deeply affecting work from Richard E. Grant and Melissa McCarthy.
Synopsis: Lee Israel is a frustrated, hard-drinking author who can barely afford to pay her rent or bills in 1990s New...
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