CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME

Lee Israel was a successful biographer in the 1970s and 80s. As the reading public grew less interested in her work, a cash-strapped Israel turned to crime to pay the bills, forging letters of literary luminaries and later trafficking in stolen missives. In her richest film role, Melissa McCarthy fully inhabits the cantankerous Israel. Abetting her is the charming hustler, Jack, played with gusto by the wonderful Richard E. Grant. It's not a romance in any conventional way, but Can You Ever Forgive Me? gave us one of the most unlikely and touching pairings of 2018.

107 minutes. Rated R.