My Review of "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a biography of Lee Isreal. I haven never heard of Lee until I watched this movie. Her story is absolutely fascinating. I really fell for this movie because of her bond with her friend Jack. They are a true odd couple that really work. Their chemistry is undeniable and I really wished for more scenes with the two together.

This movie starts off showing us that Lee has lost much of her inspiration in writing. She's getting fired because she doesn't take crap from anyone. You got to love her because she will absolutely tell everyone what's really on her mind. Lee may be a pretty terrible person but there's something about her that keeps her likable whenever she's absolutely rude to someone. In some ways I empathized with her character but I don't know how I'd react if I saw her actions in real life. It goes without saying she pisses off a ton of people and has burned a lot of bridges.

Since everyone knows how she is they all pretty much shun her from everything. Her publisher is willing to give her some slack if she's able to come up with a new book but Lee has writers block and doesn't know what to write.

After a while this takes a toll on her finances and she realizes that she has to figure out something soon or else she's going to be homeless. While she's figuring all this out she meets this guy named Jack. He's similar to Lee because he doesn't really care what others think of him. The big difference is that Lee is very social whereas Lee is closed off and would rather be with her cat than with people.

While her finances were getting bad she realizes that she has to sell some of her belongings just to make ends meet. One of the items that she sells is a letter that she received from from another writer. She gets a pretty penny for this letter and this gives her the idea to fabricate more of these letters to make extra money.

The movie starts to really spin because she really gets entangled in this crazy scheme. As with every scam movie, the authorities are always bound to find out. Still this little scam of hers really plays second fiddle with her relationship with Jack.

The two aren't romantically connected, it's more of a really good friendship that Lee doesn't even understand. You can really feel that the two are there for each other through thick and thin. This is especially special because Lee herself is a very introverted person. For her to accept and embrace Jack into her life is pretty huge. This odd couple is the best dynamic duo I've seen in a long time. The screen really lights up whenever the two interact with each other. Scenes seem to be exaggerated whenever the two converse. When things are going good it really gets good and when they go bad it's really hard to watch. If there's ever a reason to watch this movie the banter between the two is probably good enough.

Lee herself is a very interesting character as well. The way that she is able to take on the personas of the authors and create fascinating letters is fun. I had no idea that someone could make that much money by selling personal letters like this without people starting to questioning their authenticity. Who knows, this was the 80's after all.

Overall, I had a blast watching through this movie. From start to finish there was no real lulls. It was a refreshing movie that was able to lean on the characters of the movie to keep the audience entertained. This was a really well made movie. I have to give this movie a 9 out of 10. Don't let the title or the trailers deceive you. This is an absolutely fantastic ride from start to finish.