Melissa McCarthy Movies

Longtime friendships are put to the ultimate test when a dying woman summons her best friends from college into the wilderness for a four-day camping trip, and everyone quickly discovers that they haven't exactly been told the whole truth about her current condition. Lucy (Missi Pyle) has always been obese, and now that her health has taken a turn for the worse, she wants to spend her last days with the estranged college social group that helped her through one of the most difficult periods of her entire life. Upon learning that Lucy is on her deathbed, her loyal friends all rush to Montana in order to be by her side for one last weekend together. Immediately upon arriving, however, it's glaringly obvious to all of Lucy's friends that something isn't right. Her condition is a far cry from what she made it out to be in her desperate messages, and as tensions begin to rise Lucy realizes that the people standing before her today simply aren't the same people whom she remembered so fondly from college. With no modern conveniences to fall back on as the reunited group begins an arduous four-day hike into the wilderness, everyone's deepest fears and demons gradually claw their way to the surface, leaving Lucy to wonder whether her "final wish" was truly the brilliant idea she initially thought it to be. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Gilmore Girls begins its seventh season with a new executive producer David S. Rosenthal and a new network (CW, which of course was the successor to the series' former stamping grounds, WB. Alas, Season Seven will turn out to be Season Last: unable to come to financial terms with series stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel (Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, respectively) the network will bring the series to an end with its 153 rd episode on May 15, 2007. It is said by some observers that this move has been implemented so that CW can clear its decks of its "aging" properties to develop its own new series; others opine that the show never really recovered from the 6th- season defection of Gilmore Girls creators Dan Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino, and that its ever-declining (though still respectable) ratings are the true reason for the cancellation. Whatever the case, plans to extend the series past its seventh season with thirteen additional episodes will be quietly scuttled--though the "official" finale is open-ended enough to warrant a sequel or a reunion special somewhere down the line. It cannot be denied that, no matter what the future may hold for Gilmore Girls, the series is still both willing and able to deliver plenty of "bang for the buck." The seventh season begins right where the sixth season ended, as Lorelai agonizes over her one-night stand with her former lover (and father of daughter Rory) Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe) following her breakup with her foot-dragging fiance Luke Danes (Scott Patterson). Though Lorelai will marry Christopher during a romantic Parisian getaway, it is clear that her heart still belongs to Luke--and he knows it. Meanwhile, Rory prepares to graduate with a journalism degree from Yale while carrying on a frustrating long-distance romance with Logan (Matt Czuchry), the son of millionaire publisher Mitchum Huntzberger (Gregg Henry). Rory also aquires a brace of new--and typically eccentric--friends in the form of Lucy (Krysten Ritter) and Olivia (Michelle Ongkingco). In other key developments, Lorelai's father Richard (Edward Herrmann) suffers a heart attack, which results in her mother Emily (Kelly Bishop) becoming even more insufferable than usual; Rory's friend Lane (Keiko Agena) returns from her disastrous honeymoon with musician Zach (Todd Lane) with the proverbial "bun in the oven"; Rory interviews for a prestigious reporting job with "The New York Times", but ultimate opts for what she considers a higher purpose in life; and, emboldened by the example of new parents T.J. (Michael DeLuise) and Liz (Kathleen Wilhoite), Luke demands that his former girlfriend Anna (Sherlyn Fenn) to be granted equal parental rights vis-a-vis their daughter April (Vanessa Marano). As all climaxes gather for the Grand Finale, Lorelei divests herself of her new husband Christopher just in time for a reconciliation with Luke, an event fueled by a drunken night on the town and a soulful karaoke rendition of a Dolly Parton tune. And just as all of Stars Hollow is celebrating Rory's graduation, who should appear from the blue but Logan Hertzburn, with a Very Important Question on his lips. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season five of Gilmore Girls begins with Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) on the outs with her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), after Rory's brief tryst with her now-married former boyfriend, Dean (Jared Padalecki). Adding to the weight of woe on Lorelai's shoulders is the fact that her parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann), have separated and are planning to divorce. Even the possibility of romance between Lorelai and her longtime close friend Luke (Scott Patterson) is jeopardized when it is clear that neither one of them is certain in which direction their relationship should go. In other developments, Lorelai's business partner, Sookie (Melissa McCarthy), is pregnant again; Sookie's husband, Jackson (Jackson Douglas), challenges the provincial tyranny of local grocer Taylor Doose (Michael Winters) by running for the office of town selectman of Stars Hollow; Rory befriends fellow Yale student Logan Huntzberg (Matt Czuchry), the son of a billionaire newspaper mogul; Rory's dad, Christopher (David Sutcliffe), re-enters Lorelai's life, only to be told by Rory to get out and stay out; and in the series' 100th episode, Christopher and Luke come to blows over Lorelai, picking the worst possible occasion for their battle: the ceremony in which the reconciled Emily and Richard have chosen to renew their vows! Viewers will have to watch the fifth season of Gilmore Girls to figure out how guest star Norman Mailer fits into the proceedings -- or to watch as the relationship between Rory and Logan Huntzberg blossoms into something far more serious after the girl's umpteenth breakup with the ubiquitous Dean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The mystery of one man's guilt or innocence literally becomes a matter of life and death in this drama. David Gale (Kevin Spacey) was the head of the philosophy department at Austin University and the author of several well-regarded books; he was also an active and visible member of Deathwatch, an anti-capital punishment activist group. One of Gale's best friends was Constance Harraway (Laura Linney), a fellow Deathwatch activist with whom he became especially close, particularly since Gale's wife, Sharon (Elizabeth Gast), who had taken a lover in Spain, was usually absent. One night, Gale was seduced by an attractive student from his class, Berlin (Rhona Mitra), who had too much to drink; later, the remorseful student accused Gale of rape. While Gale was eventually cleared of the charges, the negative publicity cost him his career as an educator, and with no job and no wife, Gale turned to drink. When Harraway was found raped and murdered a few years later, Gale was charged with the crime, and convicted despite the best efforts of his well-meaning but ineffectual lawyer Braxton Belyeu (Leon Rippy). Now Gale awaits execution, and less than a week before his date with the fatal injection, Gale agrees to tell his story to Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet), a nervy journalist from a major newsmagazine, who arrives with her assistant, Zack Stemmons (Gabriel Mann). As Bloom discusses the facts of the Harraway murder with Gale, it occurs to her that the details simply don't add up, and soon a mysterious stranger slips evidence to her that suggests Gale has been framed -- leaving Bloom and Stemmons only a few days to solve the mystery and save Gale from the executioner. The Life of David Gale was co-produced by actor Nicolas Cage, who originally commissioned the script and intended to star in the film before prior commitments led him to hand the project over to director Alan Parker. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An unlucky-in-love bachelor lands his dream date, but finds that getting through the evening will be a difficult challenge indeed in this romantic comedy. The Third Wheel stars Luke Wilson as Stanley, a woefully inept young man who -- with the aid of his roommate Mike (Ben Affleck) -- works up the nerve to ask out his alluring co-worker Diana (Denise Richards). Diana agrees, but before the two can even be seated at a restaurant, they literally run into a homeless con man named Phil (Jay Lacopo). Currying pity from the hapless Stanley, Phil proceeds to disrupt the evening in every way imaginable. One of the first films from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's production company, The Third Wheel languished on the shelf for more than three years; a similar, if less-severe, fate befell Wakin' Up in Reno, another Miramax-distributed comedy also directed by Jordan Brady. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

As season three of Gilmore Girls gets under way, it seems apparent that single mom Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) must abandon all hope of marrying Christopher Haden (David Sutcliffe), the father of Lorelai's teenaged daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel). The pain of this realization is mitigated somewhat as Lorelai's attraction to café owner Luke (Scott Patterson) grows stronger -- even though she is less aware of this than the people around her. In other developments in the rural Connecticut community of Stars Hollow, Rory applies to Harvard, convincing her boyfriend, Dean (Jared Padalecki), that their relationship is doomed and driving him into the arms of another woman. Rory then gravitates to town reprobate Jess (Milo Ventimiglia), much to Lorelei's dismay. Equally dismayed is Rory's snooty classmate Paris (Liza Weil), who has a mini-breakdown when her own application to Harvard is rejected. As it turns out, Harvard is not on Rory's plate either; she decides to enter her dad's alma mater, Yale, even as Jess (who has flunked out of high school) and Dean (who has proposed to his current sweetie) drift out of her life...maybe. In the season-three finale, Lorelai and her business partner, Sookie (Melissa McCarthy), decide to open up a new bed-and-breakfast after the Independence Inn closes down, and Rory delivers an unforgettable commencement address at the Chilton Prep graduation ceremonies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide