From the economic collapse of 2008 to the recent “Panama Papers” scandal about the use of secret offshore accounts by the rich and powerful to avoid paying tax, financial deeds and misdeeds are rarely out of the headlines.
While politicians around the world struggle to find ways to tackle the perceived flaws in the financial system, Hollywood has stepped in to highlight the problems and make them more easily understandable.
Films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short have shone a light on shady economic activities – but the latest star to join the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale in starring in a film about the implicit wrongs of uncontrolled capitalism is perhaps a little unexpected – Melissa McCarthy.
This time, of course, it's mostly played for laughs. In The Boss, McCarthy stars as Michelle Darnell, an uncompromising, unpleasant boss who finds her life turned upside down when she's sent to prison for insider trading.
Upon release, she finds herself broke, homeless and friendless. As she tries to rebrand herself as a more likeable person, through an unlikely series of comedic events, she finds herself the leader of a timely protest movement involving beret-wearing girl scouts striving to overthrow the American way – or at least the more sexist elements of it.
The film went through a series of potential leads – even the gender of the protagonist wasn’t decided until McCarthy was cast. Oprah Winfrey, Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm were all reportedly considered, but McCarthy won in the end.
It’s the latest step in McCarthy’s steady rise to massive international fame, which now places her as one of Hollywood’s leading female stars.
She first attracted attention playing Sookie St James, Lorelei Gilmore's best friend in TV hit Gilmore Girls, which is currently being revived by Netflix – although she is not expected to return for the new episodes.
Since then, she's won multiple awards. She was nominated three times, winning once, for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Molly Flynn on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, which will end this year after six seasons and 120 episodes.
She was also nominated three years in a row, from 2012 to 2014, for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearances hosting Saturday Night Live.
McCarthy's breakthrough film role came in 2011 as Megan Price in the raunchy ensemble comedy hit Bridesmaids. As well as providing plenty of raunchy laughs, the film has become something of a feminist rallying call.
McCarthy herself has become a beacon for atypical Hollywood achievement and talent. Undeniably talented and funny, she is nevertheless not the typical, unrealistic and idealised image of women spread by Hollywood – instead she represents a more authentic image that has clearly struck a chord with audiences and critics alike. Even when her films don’t get glowing reviews, her performances are usually praised.
This acclaim is reflected in the fact that she has so far been rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Bafta nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Her recent big-screen outings include 2013 buddy comedy The Heat, in which she and Sandra Bullock starred as mismatched cops.
The following year, she starred in the comedy Tammy and, more notably, the comedy-drama St Vincent, in which she starred alongside Bill Murray. She followed this up with last year's Spy, in which she played an unlikely secret agent, for which she received Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
Her biggest film role yet arrives in July, when we will see her in the female-led reboot of Ghostbusters, alongside Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.
In the meantime, this is a fairly slow weekend for big releases, so if you fancy a change from the superhero adventures that have been dominating cinemas so far this year – and you're not spending your weekend at the Middle East Film and Comic Con – then The Boss could be worth a look.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
