.............................Having thought that monogamy was never possible, a commitment-phobic
career woman may have to face her fears when she meets a good guy.
Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Amy Schumer
Stars: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson
Writer: Amy Schumer
Stars: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson
Storyline
Since she was a little girl, it's been drilled into Amy's head by her rascal of a dad that monogamy isn't realistic. Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo - enjoying what she feels is an uninhibited life free from stifling, boring romantic commitment - but in actuality, she's kind of in a rut.
When she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of the new article she's writing, a charming and successful sports doctor named Aaron Conners, Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be on to something.
Trainwreck Movie Reviews...
''....A Winningly Subversive Romantic Comedy....''
"Monogamy isn't realistic," Gordon Townsend (Colin Quinn) declares to his daughters, Amy and Kim, after his wife files for divorce. This statement, repeated by the girls in a robotic chant, is sickeningly funny — such an announcement sounds odd coming from the mouths of two kiddos under ten — and while we laugh, we can only wonder what effect it will have on them in the future. We know their childhood is going to end up more than a little messed up, and we know that a parent who finds cheating to be a natural part of life isn't the best figure to have around.
So decades later, we're surprised that the sentiment has lost all meaning for Kim (Brie Larson), now married with a stepson and a child on the way. But Amy (Amy Schumer), expectedly (based on the abrasive promotional posters for the film), keeps the quote up on a flashy banner in the inner workings of her pessimistic brain. She's a maninizer (ensuring none of her one-night-stands stay the night), a hard drinker (she oft finds herself in bars when the going gets rough), and an opponent of, you guessed it, anything even resembling monogamy. By day, she works at a sleazier version of GQ, S'Nnuff; by night, she's the trainwreck we expect her to be.
During a meeting at work, she is hastily assigned to write an article about Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), a sports doctor whose clients include LeBron James, Tom Brady, and a bunch of other heroes I can't remember the names of because I watch movies, not athletics. She is hesitant (she was only given the task because of a vocalization that she hates sports, her editor (an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton) believing it would be an interesting angle), but Amy, being the charmer she is, handles the situation like a pro; until she "accidentally" sleeps with Conners and "accidentally" falls for him. Such a situation terrifies her — she has never been in a serious relationship — but, like all decent romantic comedies, it becomes obvious, and desired, that the two will ultimately become the pair Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine always wanted to be.
"Trainwreck" has a plot line found in most romantic comedies you can think of (boy meets girl, boy dates girl, boy loses girl, and then boy, getting a hold of what he's missing, wins the girl back over), except the gender norms are reversed and the girl is the one with all the baggage while the boy waits for her to sort things out. A person as quick to pass off rom- coms as me would normally rip apart a movie so predictable, but as a huge fan of Schumer (I've watched "Inside Amy Schumer" since its debut), I expected things wouldn't be cheesy but subversive, knowing, whip smart. And we get exactly that.
Schumer has never been afraid to embarrass herself — consider a sketch from her show this year, a black-and-white homage to "12 Angry Men", was a star packed debate trying to decide just how fuckable she was — and in "Trainwreck" she goes all out. She introduces herself, just minutes after the flashback in which her father throws out the monogamy line, with an embarrassing walk of shame. She continues the shame with a drunken voice-over. And then we find out that she's been sleeping around while still dating a devoted giant portrayed by John Cena of all people. We shouldn't like her, but Schumer is a lovable woman, not because she's disarmingly perfect like Meg Ryan but because she's so unafraid to put herself out onto the table and make fun of herself.
Some of the film is personal: she really does have a sister named Kim, she really does have a father with MS, and she really does have vaguely unhealthy living habits (though her writing dramatizes the notion). Schumer's disarming honesty is what makes her such a refreshing comedienne. Unlike other brilliant comics in her category, the raunchy Sarah Silverman and the borderline offensive Chelsea Handler, Schumer is so appealing because she mixes shock with intimate layers that may or may not suggest vulnerability. In "Trainwreck", her self-deprecation only goes so far — there comes a point in which her character completely breaks down in realization that her lifestyle only hides deeper troubles. It's this kind of tearful candor that will make Schumer a game-changer in her generation.
Technically, the film is a Judd Apatow movie (he produced and directed it), but this is Schumer's ballgame, and she knocks it out of the park. Her screenplay is as frank as it is hilarious, the characters exquisitely characterized. Giving great parts to comedy usuals Quinn (foul-mouthed) and Vanessa Bayer (grinningly scene-stealing), while fleshing out roles to unexpected players like James (sublime as Conners' BFF), Swinton (wigged out, tanned, done up), and Brie Larson (the straight-woman), she gives her supporters as much of a chance to shine as she does herself. Co-star Hader provides an exceptional performance as the love interest, so good that we're reminded of charismatic talents of the yesteryear rather than the personality-less heartthrobs Matthew McConaughey used to specialize in.
The buzz surrounding Amy Schumer these last few months is timely and well-deserved — as a comedian on the rise for too many years, it's awesome to see her develop into a talent big enough to murder the big screen. She's always formidable in her TV sketches and her stand-up routines, but "Trainwreck" is the film that's going to turn her into something besides a Comedy Central find. This woman is going places.
