Life of the Party(2018)

Plot Summary

• The movie starts with Deanna Miles (Melissa McCarthy) going with her husband Dan (Matt Walsh) to drop off their daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) to her senior year at Decatur University. After saying bye to Maddie, Deanna tells Dan how she's looking forward to their trip to Italy until Dan flat-out tells her he wants a divorce because he has fallen in love with another woman. To make things worse, he is selling their house since everything is under his name, meaning Deanna has to leave. Deanna angrily kicks his car and takes an Uber home.Deanna goes to the home of her parents, Mike (Stephen Root) and Sandy (Jacki Weaver). They note that Dan was always a jerk for making Deanna drop out of her last year of college when she got pregnant, meaning she never graduated. Mike threatens to use a gun on Dan but then almost accidentally shoots their dog.Deanna goes to play tennis with her best friend Christine (Maya Rudolph). There, Deanna bemoans what's become of her life until she decides that she won't just sit around and let Dan ruin her life.Deanna surprises Maddie in her dorm by announcing to her that she and Dan are divorcing and that she is now going to take a year at Decatur so that she can graduate and earn a degree in archaeology. Maddie is stunned by both bits of news and is left speechless.Maddie introduces Deanna to her friends - Amanda (Adria Arjona), neurotic Debbie (Jessie Ennis), and Helen (Gillian Jacobs), who was in a coma for eight years and is now getting a chance to go to college. Deanna later meets her roommate Leonor (Heidi Gardner), who is creepy and weird.One of Deanna's first classes is an archaeology class with Helen, and her professor is a former classmate of hers named Wayne (Chris Parnell). There, Deanna also meets resident "mean girl" Jennifer (Debby Ryan) and her friend Trina (Yani Simone). They mock Deanna's mom sweater and for her laughing at Wayne's corny archaeology-related jokes.Deanna later goes to sign the divorce papers with Christine while Dan shows up with his new fiancee Marcie (Julie Bowen). They exchange a lot of insults through the mediator.Maddie takes Deanna to hang out with her and her friends. After being mocked by Jennifer again, Maddie gives her mom a makeover so that she can look more party-ready. Deanna meets Maddie's boyfriend Tyler (Jimmy O. Yang) and another boy named Jack (Luke Benward). After many shots and beers, Deanna and Maddie wake up the next morning mortified to see each other leaving a frat house doing the "walk of shame", which leads Maddie to realize Deanna slept with Jack.Jack starts to constantly text Deanna since he has basically fallen in love with her. She tells him it was just a one-time thing, but they then go to the stacks in the library to have sex again.Deanna tends to Debbie when she expresses a personal issue she is having, along with the other girls talking about their problems. Deanna encourages the girls to use their strengths to their advantage. They then go to an 80's themed party where Deanna has a dance-off with Jennifer that results in her winning and earning the respect of her schoolmates.Deanna must do a presentation for her archaeology class, but she gets so nervous that she sweats profusely and finally ends up fainting.Deanna goes out to dinner with Christine, her husband, and their couple friends (that they don't even like). To Deanna and Christine's dismay, Dan and Marcie show up to gloat about taking the trip to Italy. However, Deanna gets the last laugh when they see that not only is Jack their waiter, but he is also Marcie's son and Deanna gloats about sleeping with him to gross Marcie out.On the night of Dan and Marcie's wedding, Deanna and her friends get high off chocolate bark laced with weed, and they head to the reception. Deanna is initially ready to make peace with Dan until they see posters outside that are basically saying Dan did better than Deanna by getting with Marcie. Deanna and the girls then start trashing the reception room. Dan, Marcie, and Maddie find them after they wreck the place, and Marcie tells Deanna she is cut off financially from Dan. Deanna is filled with shame, if only because of how Maddie saw her.Deanna tries to make amends with Maddie, but she tells her that she is leaving college since she has no means of completing the rest of the year on her own. The girls then come up with a plan to throw a party to raise money to pay for Deanna's tuition.The party turns out to be a flop since everyone is at a Christina Aguilera concert. Helen, who has three million Twitter followers, posts that Christina will be at the party after her show. This brings in almost the whole school, but they all start to ask when Christina will be there. Christine shows up with her husband, as do Mike and Sandy. Mike offers to give Deanna a check to pay off her tuition, but Deanna refuses to take it. Things get hectic when Jennifer and Helen get into a fight that is broken up after Jennifer accidentally punches Deanna in the breasts. Before the girls decide to issue refunds, they are surprised when Leonor shows up and reveals that Christina Aguilera is her cousin, and because of Deanna showing her kindness, she decided to help her out. Christina says she supports Deanna's cause, and she puts on a show with Deanna and the girls to an excited crowd.Later on, Deanna is up to repeat her presentation in class. She is still nervous until Maddie, Helen, Amanda, Debbie, and all the sorority sisters show up to support her, and Deanna manages to give the presentation with ease.At the end of the year, Deanna and Maddie graduate together, with all their friends and family there to support them. Maddie encourages Deanna to throw her cap in the air. She does so, and it hits Dan in the face, knocking out an earring he was wearing.

Storyline

• When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna turns regret into re-set by going back to college - landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who's not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna -- now Dee Rock -- embraces freedom, fun, and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected. — Warner Bros. Pictures Fresh off a divorce from a 23-year marriage, mom in her 40s, Deanna (Melissa McCarthy), decides to finally get her degree and joins her daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) at college. There, she enjoys life on campus, crazy parties, and library hookups while coming to terms with her new situation. Gillian Jacobs, Maya Rudolph and Debby Bryan also star. After dropping off their daughter Maddie to her senior year at Decatur University in Atlanta, Dan tells Deanna that he wants a divorce because he has fallen in love with another woman, a Realtor Marcie, and he also wants to sell their house under his name. Heartbroken, Deanna visits her parents Mike and Sandy to tell them what happened, but Mike is frustrated because Dan made Deanna drop out of her college because she was pregnant, as well as his overbearing ways during their marriage. Deanna goes to see Maddie in her dorm to tell the news about her divorce and her plans to study again at the university to earn a degree in Archaeology. Maddie initially has doubts about her plan but she ultimately accepts it. Maddie introduces Deanna to her friends-Amanda, neurotic Debbie, and Helen. Deanna later meets her agoraphobic and chronically depressed roommate Leonor..