Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) is a miserable human being. She’s a drunk, working menial jobs she feels are below her, and does her level best to push away everyone in her life except her elderly cat. In dire straits and driven by desperation, the former best-selling author and celebrity biographer turns to forging personal letters from famous literary figures, selling her wares to unsuspecting collectors. Such is the plot of Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which recounts Israel’s bizarre real-life saga, carried by a soaring, career-best performance from McCarthy.
