Superintelligence

We’ve always figured that identity theft and technological overreach were creepy and intrusive, but in the ironically titled Superintelligence, they merely provide a pathway to wealth and romance.

In fact, although the credits suggest otherwise, it feels as if this latest lackluster comedy vehicle for Melissa McCarthy was cranked out by computers rather than humans.

McCarthy plays another simple-minded loner who get in way over her head as Carol, an unemployed marketing executive in Seattle with a philanthropic heart. Her average nature is the reason that she’s chosen by an all-consuming artificial intelligence (voiced by James Corden) as the subject of an experiment on human nature.

Whether it’s her television, her phone, her car, or any other possible transmission device, she can’t escape the demanding AI and its suspicious motives. At least she’s being handsomely rewarded, even as she feels like she’s losing her mind. Carol tells a friend and former co-worker (Brian Tyree Henry), who winds up involving the government.

Meanwhile, the AI arranges for Carol to reunite with her ex-boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale) for a romantic evening prior to his leaving town. However, as they soon discover, it’s part of a grander high-tech plan by an omniscient intruder with potentially sinister powers.

The film marks the fourth collaboration between McCarthy and her real-life husband, director Ben Falcone, who also plays a supporting role. Curiously, their projects together never seem to play to McCarthy’s strengths, or spotlight her proven ability to modulate comedy and drama.

In this instance, the collection of sight gags and one-liners feels labored, and the basic premise can’t withstand the slightest logical scrutiny.

McCarthy’s slightly awkward, easygoing charm provides a boost, but the screenplay by Steve Mallory (The Boss) leaves her literally screaming into thin air.

Superintelligence aims to put moviegoers in Carol’s shoes as part of a what-if scenario, yet the film arbitrarily makes up the narrative rules as it goes along — a manipulative tactic that prevents meaningful audience sympathy for Carol or her plight.

Despite some scattered laughs along the way, the further it goes, the less sense it makes. By the time a third-act twist reveals the AI’s true intentions, most viewers will have logged off.

Rated PG, 106 minutes.