“Life Of The Party” (** out of the four) was a mild, middling comedy about a middle-aged mom (Melissa McCarthy) who returns to college with her daughter (Molly Gordon) to finish her degree after her lout husband abruptly asks for a divorce. Slapdash comedy has some scattered laughs but never excels or takes off. McCarthy’s likeability and charisma has to carry this a long way. Rodney Dangerfield had a far more entertaining and funny semester when he went “Back To School” in mostly the same movie in 1986.