<P> Life of the Party is a 2018 American comedy film directed by Ben Falcone and written by Falcone and Melissa McCarthy . It is the third film directed by Falcone and co-written by the pair, following Tammy (2014) and The Boss (2016). The film, starring McCarthy, Molly Gordon, Gillian Jacobs, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen, Matt Walsh, Debby Ryan, Adria Arjona, Jessie Ennis, Stephen Root, and Jacki Weaver, follows a newly divorced mother who returns to college to complete her degree, and ends up bonding with her daughter's friends . </P> <P> Produced by On the Day Productions and New Line Cinema, the film was released on May 11, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures . It received mixed reviews from critics, who called it "a frustratingly middling comedy that never really figures out what to do with all that talent and fails to produce consistent laughs ." </P> <P> 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 in Atlanta . 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 . </P> <P> 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, as well as making her put up with his overbearing ways during their marriage . Mike threatens to use a gun on Dan but then almost accidentally shoots their dog . </P>

Who plays the husband in life of the party