LAST year, mainstream comedy was thin on the ground. The phrase ‘lead balloon’ even comes to mind. Whilst the indie scene provided chuckles in The Big Sick and The Disaster Artist, Hollywood’s offerings – Snatched, Rough Night, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Daddy’s Home 2 among them – were wit-free zones.

2018 has, thus far, seen a grand improvement. I Feel Pretty might have been a dud last week but Game Night and Blockers both delivered hearty laughs. Hoping to pick up the baton this weekend is Ben Falcone’s Life of the Party, starring his fiercely talented wife Melissa McCarthy.

McCarthy burst on to the comedy scene as the break-out star of Bridesmaids back in 2011 but has had a patchy run in years since. Whereas Spy and Ghostbusters allowed her to shine, Tammy and The Boss were weak. Life of the Party is the third time McCarthy and Falcone have worked together; unfortunately, the latter two films testify their previous efforts.

In the new film, McCarthy plays Deanna Miles, who decides to return to college after divorcing her husband Dan (Matt Walsh). In a set-up that could only happen in this type of film, Deanna winds up in the same class as her daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) and proceeds to cause high-intensity embarrassment by diving right into the freedom, fun and frat boys on campus offer.

Modern Family’s Julie Bowen is among an ensemble cast that includes McCarthy’s Bridesmaid co-star Maya Rudolph and a cameo by Christina Aguilera. Silly fun is likely, genuine rib-tickling less so.

Also out this week is the long-time-coming sequel to 2011 animation Gnomeo and Juliet. Executive produced by Elton John – whose music filled the soundtrack – the film offered youngsters an unconventional take on Shakespeare, with garden gnomes taking the iconic parts. Seven years later, Sherlock Gnomes serves up a similar butchering of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The first film’s starry cast have been brought back for the sequel, albeit in smaller roles, with Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Matt Lucas and Julie Walters in the background. James McAvoy and Emily Blunt once again voice Gnomeo and Juliet, who team up with Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) and Watson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) when all the gnomes in London start to mysteriously disappear.

Accepting that I am not the target audience, Sherlock Gnomes is a particularly dire effort.