Rex Reed of New York Observer also calls the 'Bridesmaids' actress 'a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success.'
- Feb 9, 2013
AceShowbiz - Melissa McCarthy is facing weight jab from New York Observer's longtime movie reviewer, Rex Reed. While reviewing her new movie "Identity Thief", he inserts some offensive comments about the 42-year-old actress who's well known for her role as an abrasive and comical sister-in-law in "Bridesmaids".
Describing the movie as "a new chunk of junk" with "trashy, stupefying screenplay," Reed calls the Oscar-nominated McCarthy "cacophonous, tractor-sized" in one sentence and a "hippo" in another. He also refers to her as "a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success."
On the other hand, Reed manages to praise McCarthy's co-star Jason Bateman amidst his unfavorable comments about the actress and the movie they're in. He calls the actor "charming, talented, attractive and versatile."
Reed had made remarks about other actors' weight before, but the words he used were not as harsh as he picked to describe McCarthy. In his review of "Flight", for example, he said John Goodman's portrayal of a "pony-tailed, overweight hippie drug dealer" was "amusing."
He is also not the only one who has commented on McCarthy's full figure when reviewing the movie, but none of the others writes with any of the malice he shows toward her. "Though the actress often uses her plus size as a punch line in the movie, it serves even better for her character's emotional arc," Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey says.
Another movie critic, Joe Morgenstern of Wall Street Journal, offers in his review, "Melissa McCarthy stole big chunks of a great show in the 2011 'Bridesmaids': She was Megan, the bridesmaid of formidable girth and unstoppable id."
Many online readers slam Reed for his choice of words. Some accuses him of being "sexist," and some others call him "nasty." Amidst the many criticisms, the Observer's editor Ken Kurson defends him, "Rex Reed is a national treasure. He has a right to his opinion and The New York Observer's smart, passionate readers have a right to disagree with his opinion."
The actress hasn't said a word about Reed's weight jab, but she has discussed her weight in the past. "There's so many other things to worry about," she said to Anderson Cooper in one interview. "I still worry about it, but I think, my kids are healthy, I've got a great husband and I go to work every day and do what I want."
