CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Based on a true story and set against a stunning backdrop of early-90s New York City, the lonely, once-celebrated author Lee Israel finds a new voice when she begins to imitate, forge, and sell personal letters of deceased literary icons.
It’s often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but when Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a former New York Times best-selling biographer of obscure historical figures, finds a way to profit off of it, imitation becomes a felony. Always drowning in a bottle of scotch, Lee is bitter at a world that celebrates Tom Clancy over her passion projects, like a long-gestating biography of vaudeville actress Fanny Bryce. The perpetual cat lady hasn’t published a book in years, is three months behind rent, and she’s sold all of her personal book collection that the local sellers will buy back. But, when she accidentally discovers that there is high demand in the niche market of personal letters from legendary literary heroes, she sees a ripe opportunity. It isn’t long before her knowledge of Dorothy Parker’s cadence and syntax brings in the big bucks, an accomplice in fellow drunk Jack (a memorable Richard E. Grant), and the attention of the FBI. Featuring a captivating dramatic performance from McCarthy, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is the follow-up feature from THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL’s Marielle Stiles Heller as she digs into the past to find humor and humanity in the most unexpected of characters.
CAST: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Joanna Adler, Shae D’lyn
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