I hate most comedy films. Especially American comedy films. Good luck, Trainwreck.
Here’s the synopsis: Having thought that monogamy was never possible, a commitment-phobic career woman may have to face her fears when she meets a good guy.
I very much liked this film. I know, I’ve shocked myself. I thought I’d like it a little bit but it was much better than I expected it to be. Amy Schumer is brilliant and she wrote it so it was very funny. It made me feel incredibly uplifted and I actually laughed out loud a couple of times which is very rare for me. I don’t even laugh out loud at comedy I adore.
There were elements that were a bit predictable and crappy. But nowhere near enough for it to ruin the film. Tilda Swinton is fantastically hilarious in it. So good to see a British women being so funny in a big American comedy.
Well done everyone.
4 out of 5.
There’s really no point in debating how much of an actress Amy Schumer (previously best known for her stand-up and sketch comedy work) is or is not when one quality trumps all: Amy Schumer is funny. This much is obvious not only in her Comedy Central-aired work, but in each and every frame of the vulgar and uproarious Trainwreck, which the 34 year-old Manhattan native also wrote, in part, by exaggerating comedic events from her own life. Judd Apatow, making his first directorial departure from his own material, brings to the picture an incredibly deep cast and an atmosphere of collaboration and improvisation that informs so much of his other work (note that while Terry Lamfers gets casting credit, it appears as if Apatow and producer Barry Mendel landed many of the film’s big names, which include Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Tilda Swinton, Colin Quinn, John Cena, LeBron James, Method Man, Daniel Radcliffe, Marisa Tomei, Marv Albert, Matthew Broderick [the list goes on]).
Schumer’s screenplay is quite fresh, approaching brilliance in certain scenes and situations, but so much joy comes from living in the chemistry felt amongst actors. Hader and Schumer, quite essentially, share it as the film’s romantic interests, but it’s there between Schumer and Larson (who play sisters, the former with comedic ticks and broad personal amplification and the latter contrast with such remarkable reservation and integrity) and with Hader and James too (who play friends, the former portraying a sports doctor and the latter portraying, well, LeBron James—or perhaps a personification of LeBron, as one can never quite tell how well the two-time NBA Finals MVP is acting…a testament to his performance, after all).
Underneath a barrage of dirty jokes and insensitive humor, if one were to strip away the vulgarities and the depravities and the indications of interpersonal aloofness, the film that’s left is (much like its protagonist) a romantic comedy (or a girl that wants to be in one). Now it’s fair to say that I have a history of prejudice toward the genre—I’m averse, at the very least—but there’s something about the way Schumer approaches it, the way her character huffs and puffs and carries out above-it protestations towards love and commitment and all the trappings of the genre that had me first oblivious to the film’s latent nature, and later appreciative of its deft dismissal of the genre’s inane propositions. Trainwreck is, for awhile, a deconstruction of the romantic comedy1, which probably explains why [am I shortsighted to think there may be mild spoilers ahead?] I was so disappointed by its climatic acquiescence. Right right right, I’m missing the point. The Schumer character’s complete embrace of the need for a romantic relationship (communicated through a grandiose demonstration of true love), her willingness to step out of the selfish confines of loneliness masquerading as considered independence reflects a human need so universally essential that the film could have ended no other way. This, it seems, is the film’s suggestion; but how much, I wonder, does it overlap with the illusory tenets of the rom-com? And why, for that matter, am I so concerned?
Perhaps its presentation recalled foul memories of lesser romantic comedies (I take that back, I know it did), but perhaps it does also purport, in that sly rom-com manner, to be a ubiquitous and attainable experience accepted en masse as an immutable template of true love. And this, I suggest, is the most troubling trait of the romantic comedy.
This particular one, however, is quite thankfully made by a whole great variety of talented people, not the least of which is Amy Schumer, who—dancing the great dance of rom-coms of old and relishing the giddy embrace with which they always seem to conclude—sells the moment as, if not the capital-T Truth, then at least a joyfully-discovered personal satisfaction. Hard to argue with that.
3.5/4
1 It’s also, by the way, a taut examination of family relationships—an identity almost lost in the quiet valleys between jokes.
I am in no means at all qualified to review movies, but for some reasons, I have a lot of opinions about this one. Some really good, some bad.
Obviously, major spoilers under the cut. And it got pretty long and wasn’t proofread so it probably doesn’t flow very nice.
First of all, I am totally fine with women who just want to sleep around and not commit to relationships. While that’s not my thing personally, if that’s what you wanna do, I’m gonna be the last person to try and stop you. And I like Amy Schumer, I think she’s very funny and poignant about social issues and a really witty and interesting comedic writer. She not only stars in Trainwreck, but she wrote it and I think was a producer or co-producer or something like that. Overall, the movie wasn’t terrible, but there were some things that didn’t fly with me. For the sake of consistency, we’ll go in chronological order.
The film opens with that scene from the trailer where Amy’s father Gordon tells a 9-year-old Amy and her sister Kim that monogomy isn’t realistic. There’s some really creepy doll analogy used to get the kids to understand it, but this is acceptable as it sets up the character of her father as well as Amy’s current lifestyle--drinking, smoking pot, sleeping around, but leaving or getting the guy to leave before morning. She accidentally spends the night once and it fucks her up real bad, so she heads home on a ferry, and the opening credits roll to Miley Cyrus’s “Do My Thang”, which was so perfectly placed I listened to that song on repeat about ten times when I got home.
Amy works for this men’s magazine, female boss, two males and one other female on her team. Thinking about it now, the work meeting scene might have been poking fun at sexism in the writing/publishing industry, but I didn’t realize it while I was watching, so when only the men are pitching ideas, and about incredibly sexist things like “Are You Gay, or Is She Boring?” and stuff about boobs, I wanted to punch them both in the throat. This might be classic feminist Schumer humor, and is fine, but in the moment pissed me off.
So Amy is given this assignment to write about sports doctor Aaron Connors, played by the amazing Bill Hader, which I will get to. She refuses at first cuz she hates sports and thinks people who like them are mentally inferior. Although I don’t agree and this could be seen as problematic, this is REALLY REALLY GOOD given all the high praise for the feminism in this film. Amy is a character we more commonly see played by men--lots of casual sex and partying, recreational drug use, little to no interest in romantic commitment. But female. And yet, she doesn’t have other stereotypically masculine qualities, like an obsession with sports, only drinks beer, etc. She hates sports. She drink beer and every other alcohol out there. She does her hair, wears dresses and makeup. I think it’s refreshing.
Anyway, Amy’s sister Kim is the polar opposite--married, decent house, a stepson who is ANNOYING AS FUCK like the only thing I wanna say about this scene aside from Amy’s constant sex jokes which got a little too much since she was talking about her parents, is this fucking kid is so goddamn preppy I wanted to rip his head off. He’s like 8 and wears button-up shirts and sweater vests and like fancy cheeses and tea and calls Kim “mother”. Does anyone actually raise their kids like this? Yuck.
It’s been like half an hour and we finally meet Aaron. And let me say Bill Hader. BILL FUCKING HADER. One of the main reasons I decided to see this movie was because I loved Bill on SNL and was really interested in seeing him play a romantic male lead. And he did not disappoint oh my god. He stole the show for me. He wasn’t Nicholas Sparks male lead with overly sweet gestures like flowers and over-the-top romantic dates, but he was very sweet and cared about people a whole lot and he had his silly moments but it wasn’t the Bill Hader I’m used to but he was SO GREAT OH GOD.
Anyway Amy is sort of seeing this guy played by John Cena but she still sleeps around which is like WHY. He works at a gym or something stereotypically masculine like that and is really terrible at dirty talk but he has a decent butt I guess. They go see a movie and have a conversation about drinking and Amy’s other guys WHILE THE MOVIE IS GOING ON which also was a stupid little thing that pissed me off probably because the woman next to me her phone had already rung once and would ring a second time later in the movie. But like WHY IS THIS A THING THAT HAPPENS IN MOVIES? Why do people have conversations in movie theaters? Why did the couple who got pissed at John Cena get into a loud argument with him when the WHOLE REASON THEY WERE PISSED WAS CUZ THEY WERE BEING LOUD? Why is this a thing that regularly happens on screen I don’t get it.
Amy’s also gotten high by this point and they finally leave the damn theater to have their serious conversation. John Cena’s hella pissed and upset cuz he wanted to marry Amy, but she’s just high and wants to leave. John Cena gets pissed and leaves and you realize oh okay, you ARE supposed to think Amy is a terrible person. Cuz that’s what I’ve been thinking this whole time.
Blah blah blah things happen with Amy and her family and then the glorious Bill Hader comes back to show Amy around his office and facility. There were a lot of really great things about this scene, like the silliness of Amy walking on the treadmill that’s so not sexual like nearly all the humor we’ve seen for the entire film. But then she does the Hitler walk.
I’m proudly Jewish. I wanted to tear the screen in half.
Ladies and gentlemen, please. It’s 2015. Retire the Hitler walk. It’s not funny. It’s just offensive and rude and insulting. Thanks.
But then something happens with her family that causes her to have a panic attack, and she gets off the treadmill and Aaron helps her feel better and breathe. It’s a very nice representation of minor anxiety and mental issues, which I’ve been dealing with recently, and Bill Hader is so insanely SWEET about everything I want to cry.
And then they get dinner and drink and sleep together at Aaron’s place but he wants to spoon and sleep and she doesn’t so she does picky things like put a pillow between them and basically won’t let him near her but he’s still so SWEET ABOUT IT. She freaks out about spending the night but still goes to watch him perform surgery which is invasive and gross and he listens to Uptown Girl and she vomits on the window. She tries to break up but he tries to become exclusive and he’s so CUTE AND SWEET I just want to hug him. Then her dad falls real bad and they go to his assisted living home and Aaron stitches him up and it’s a really nice moment.
The movie started to pick up for me after this. Amy and Aaron start actually dating and are very cute and LeBron James is silly and weird and other things happen and Amy goes to Kim’s baby shower where white suburban moms tell their dark secrets, which are just as white and suburban as you can get. Skinny Cow ice cream at night and letting your 6 year old watch Glee, and too many “homosexual undertones”. As someone who stuck with Glee until the very end, this was the best joke in the whole movie. I almost cried, I was laughing so hard. Amy’s is of course sexual, and it might have been the one time sexual humor was refreshing.
Amy’s father then dies and she gives a nice speech at his funeral. And dramatic actress Amy Schumer is very underrated, underexposed, and underappreciated. She won’t win any Oscars anytime soon, but I was impressed with her ability to be so emotional, which we obviously never see. Aaron tells her he loves her, and in a normal romcom, this would be a big fucking deal and dramatic, swelling music and looks of love, but given the circumstances, it’s such bad timing that Amy not only doesn’t say it back but calls him out on his shit and it’s pretty realistic and decent, even though I really want her to say she loves him, because now I’m not bored and pissed off and I’m actually rooting for them.
The magazine decides not to run Amy’s story on Aaron because it was boring and dramatic things happen with smoking and yelling and fighting and more unreciprocated I love you’s and Amy doesn’t seem like the worst person ever anymore because she’s starting to realize how much she sucks and blah blah blah Aaron finds out about the article being cut and they break up.
So what does Amy do? Goes back to classic Amy and goes out and parties, drinks a ton, and has sex with someone she doesn’t know well at all. This time, it’s with an intern played by Ezra Miller, and even though there’s no real sex, the whole ordeal is wacky and bizarre and I commend Ezra and Amy for being able to get through it. But then you find out Ezra is only 16 years old, which is first of all unrealistic. How the FUCK does a SIXTEEN year old get an internship? Where are these internships? Where were they when I was 16? How does a 16 year old have time for an internship AND SCHOOL? How does Ezra Miller still pass for 16? Sigh. This also gets Amy fired.
Aaron also has a weird intervention with other sports stars, but then Amy fully realizes she’s hit rock bottom and that she is actually a terrible person and so she gets rid of all her alcohol and drugs and gets her Aaron article published in Vanity Fair and it was all probably very predictable but it was still nice. Then it’s the final act of the movie and she’s trying to win Bill Hader back by performing with not the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders but something of that nature and she’s really bad but she’s trying and Uptown Girl is worked into the routine and he’s loving it and I’M loving it and then she tries to jump off a trampoline to make a slam dunk and she face plants into the mat, which is really the only way it could have gone other than her actually making the basket. But she tells him she loves him and he says it back and they kiss and it’s a very predictable ending but sometimes you need those.
I have more appreciation for this movie after reflecting on it and writing about it, but I’d still only give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Bill Hader was fabulous, it was sweet and funny and progressive in its own way, but there are still a lot of subtle problems that Schumer should really work on if this is the kind of comedy she writes.
Amy is funny. But she also pulled a lot of racial jokes in that made me very angry (which is 90% of the problem I usually have notoriously had toward her humor; there were moments and scenes that actually caused me to fantasize about walking out, when I’m the one who dragged my brother along). She claims the same thing with this movie as she has with her other schticks: that she’s presenting racists in a way to critique them/their behavior; that showing how fowl they are automatically discredits them. But... it barely ever gets checked, which makes it fall flat as some sort of ‘critique.’ I could even totally relate to her eulogy for her asshole father because I have an asshole father like that and even JUST TODAY I was thinking about this paradox of hating how hateful he is toward other people but benefiting from how much he loves me and loving him on the sheer basis that he’s my dad and I love my dad... so I could even relate to this storyline. But at the same time, she barely checks his behavior, and there was just an overabundance of inappropriate lines and moments that didn’t involve him that I thought were simply unnecessary. I’m sure others will explain and examine this way better than I can though, so if I see a suitable review later, maybe I’ll reblog it/link to it.
There were many, many scenes that made me uncomfortable because of how heavy they were dramatically speaking; how real they were. Her character was a straight up bitch most of the time, and not in any sort of ‘empowering’ way. She was selfish, fiery, mistake-prone, offensive, insensitive, rude, misogynistic... but in some way it was endearingly raw; some painful family moments actually seemed almost poignant, even relatable. I’d have to think about it a bit more, but I think overall, many of the moments of me being angry with her and unsympathetic toward her character (when it didn’t have to do with racial remarks) still are feelings that I appreciated in the long run, because... I do believe we’re all capable of being that narcissistic, but movies like to gloss over that, y’know? Movies like to make sure that the audience can always relate to and defend the decisions of their protagonist 100%, no matter how they behave, but this was a really bare-naked interpretation of a woman who “is broken.” It made me uncomfortable, it made me angry at her... and I think I liked it. I think it was refreshing.
I did not really care for John Cena’s role, but not enough to cause a stink over it. If people like him, they like him. It was whatever for me.
I loved Bill every single moment. EVERY MOMENT. There was not a scene that went by where I was upset with him or his character. He is the sweetest, purest cinnamon roll. He’s the reason I even wanted to see this movie. I’m not sure I’d be chomping at the bit for him to play more leading man roles, necessarily, but I’m not against it. (Psstt.. Seth/Stefon movie.) The entire romance was very contrived and my usual super power of predicting the plot kicked in fast, but there were still worthwhile moments that I smiled at. He also had some really funny moments without Amy around, which I really, really appreciated. They surprisingly had pretty good chemistry, too. And I just really wanted to melt every time he was so encouraging, or so baffled at her defense mechanisms to just peace out of the relationship because fighting = breaking up suddenly, etc. He really wanted to make it work no matter how shitty she was being, so I respected that a lot.
There was one teeny tiny moment where I thought he sounded/made an expression like Stefon and my heart grew three sizes.
But I don’t really think it should have been called Trainwreck. Like she wasn’t... I mean yeah she is a train wreck, sort of, but I don’t know... It just didn’t suit the film, to me. I thought with how authentically they were trying to show a woman with that backstory and those life stressors at the time, her actions made sense-- it wasn’t about her being a fuckup, it was about that moment in time when her making mistakes was reaching a pivotal turnaround point; like finally learning from them-- about like taking a timeout and re-evaluating. Should’a been called something like “Personal Foul” or “Penalty Shot;” something more sports related but also echoing the foul humor... Anyway. I’m no prude, and I did laugh a lot more than I thought I would. There was a lot of gross stuff that I found hilarious, and a lot of dialogue between women that was fantastic (even though I don’t even think this movie at all passed the Bechdel test).
Trainwreck (2015) Directed by Judd Apatow and Written by Amy Schumer I will admit first that I am biased prior to seeing this film because I personally really enjoy Schumer's work. Inside Amy Schumer is fantastic. Also, I literally saw at least one advertisement per week since March and that expectations were out the roof. Yes, it's been hyped. No, it had not been over-hyped. All previous Schumer fans will go home happy, as well as any watcher simply looking for a fun and fresh romantic comedy. Schumer delivers a refreshing and hilarious insight into the dating world in a genre that often is the same plot redone time and again. Not only has she made a film that turns the stereotypical gender roles of romantic comedies on its head, but she's done so with incredible heart and feeling. This is no in-your-face feminist manifesto, but simply a film where the lead woman has brain, wit and faults that she (and no man) has to save herself from. With a stellar cast and amazing comedic writing, this film is a to-watch for all and any comedy lovers.
