Based on the memoir of the same name by the late Lee Israel, Can You Ever Forgive Me? details how Israel, a notable biographer of figures like Katharine Hepburn and Tallulah Bankhead who published books throughout the 1970s and ’80s, had fallen on hard times during the ’90s. Opportunities had dried up, and she turned to forgeries as well as the stealing of archival materials from libraries as a means of generating income.
The film offers fascinating portrait of New York City in this time period.
One of its primary settings is Julius’, a historic gay bar where Israel planned her infamous schemes.
But Can You Ever Forgive Me? also features stellar performances from Melissa McCarthy as Israel and Richard E. Grant as Jack, who show the world what is so rarely seen in media: a friendship between a gay man and a lesbian.
