Blu-ray

Road movies have always been a popular genre in American cinema. Probably because the country is so damn big and there are plenty of desert roads that seem to stretch to infinity. Motoring for 500 miles between San Diego and Phoenix seems pretty awesome compared to the UK equivalent of driving from London to Bristol!

Melissa McCarthy’s new comedy Tammy jumps on the road movie bandwagon but fails to get into second gear. Accompanied by her alcoholic grandmother Pearl (played by one half of the brilliant Thelma and Louise, actress Susan Sarandon), overweight and foul-mouthed Tammy quits her dead-end job at Topper Jack’s fast food restaurant, walks out on her two-timing husband Greg and heads off for Niagara Falls. En route the two women argue about their life and loves, are arrested for robbery and finally end up at a lesbian party hosted by Pearl’s cousin Lenore (Kathy Bates).

McCarthy, who wrote the script along with her husband and the film’s director Ben Falcone, tries desperately to win laughs with a selection of either overblown physical routines or swear word-laden dialogue. The ‘armed’ robbery of the Topper Jack’s restaurant sequence is dragged out to the point of tedium, while the movie’s attempts to deal with Pearl’s drinking problems makes a mockery of a more worthy subject matter. 

McCarthy plays the whole thing like Dawn French on speed and the end result is an appallingly self-indulgent movie that unfortunately fails on all levels.

Picture: Nothing to complain about here. The AVC-encoded 1.78:1 1080p Blu-ray image is sharp with the colours bright and vivid throughout, particularly when it comes to the robbery scene in Chapter 6. Likewise, flesh tones and black levels are excellent – just spin up the night time scenes on the boating lake in Chapter 7 to see what we mean.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: The disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 adds an extra dimension to the film; from Tammy’s raucous singing to the thundering sound of the water fall at Niagara (Chapter 10) the mix creates a pleasingly open front-end. Use of the rears is rather more limited in its ambitions, but this isn't exactly the type of film that is going to fill your speakers with explosions and gunfire anyway.
Audio rating: 3.5/5

Extras: Tammy pulls together a modest batch of special features, although most of them are as unfunny as the movie. In addition to both Theatrical and (four-minute longer) Extended Cut versions of the film itself, the Blu-ray also finds space for a three-minute gag reel, four minutes of deleted scenes, seemingly endless collections of alternate takes and a four-minute guide to travelling across country with your kids.
Extras rating: 2/5

We say: Tammy tries to be both hilarious and sentimental, but fails on both counts because its characters are neither likeable nor funny.

Tammy: Extended Cut, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Region B BD, £20 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 2/5