Stars: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Tilda Swinton, Colin Quinn, John Cena, LeBron James
Director: Judd Apatow
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars
(Spoilers Ahead...and also admittedly some raciness as this is a pretty bawdy movie) And I left the film not disappointed, though admittedly not in-love. The film, chronicling Amy (Schumer, still new enough to her career where she can play a character with her same name) and her journey from being on a string of endless one-night stands to finding love with Aaron, a ridiculously perfect doctor-boyfriend (Bill Hader, manic pixie dream guying it up), has too many fun moments to not be enjoyable in the moment. Schumer and Hader are aces when it comes to comedy, and there are moments in the film that just work. I actually loved the opening scene where Schumer is on a date with a guy whose penis is too large and she fakes a quick orgasm and goes to sleep in hopes of not having to actually deal with the thing. It seems funny, it's a step toward realism with only a hint of Carrie Bradshaw (come on-if you haven't been on this date personally you at least have a friend who has), and gives an insight into the character she is. Amy is actually pretty awesome, if admittedly a massive alcoholic. She's ambitious in her career, she's got a cool best friend, and she enjoys a healthy sex life. She also has chemistry with most everyone, and if she doesn't she has chemistry with the fourth wall because she can make you laugh at any given moment. I particularly loved the way that she sort of assumes the non-committal "male" role not because it's a stereotype-breaking (if anything having a non-committal man in a movie these days would be breaking a stereotype), but because she's so nonplussed about it. She truly doesn't care what is happening around her after a date or whether that guy calls her back.
So I wish that there had been a little bit more of a learning curve when it came to her boyfriend Aaron. Part of my problem with this film is that Amy the character frequently is trying to fit into the leading woman box but makes too many leaps to get to an easy solution. We never really get why Aaron specifically is her soulmate, quite frankly. John Cena's character may be super self-involved, but really is the only thing that she needed to get to dewy-eyed a dorky doctor? Because Cena's character is also sweet, thoughtful, and looking out for her. Yes, he has a rough exterior and a macho attitude, but we get absolutely no sense from Amy that she likes this guy for anything other than his body, and yet she falls head-over-heels for Aaron. Realism is something I value, particularly when the character onscreen is a lonely thirtysomething (because that's a subject know extremely well), and I just don't buy that the girl at the beginning of this movie falls for Bill Hader's Aaron without some sort of hint that she would have fallen for another guy. I also don't get why Hader's Aaron is single when he clearly doesn't want to be. He's cute, sweet, a doctor, and has court-side Knicks tickets. What isn't to love here? I get that this is a lot of nitpicking for a romantic comedy (a genre that abandons realism during the opening credits), but I expected more from Schumer than two attractive people having a series of meet-cutes. I wanted something a little bit bawdier, a little more badass. The ending scene feels plucked straight out of Pitch Perfect, where Amy dances to a song that Aaron likes-really? Couldn't we have found a better way to end the movie.
So I'm torn here-the film is actually quite watchable the less you think about it, and Schumer/Hader/most of the rest of the cast is insanely funny (I particularly loved Tilda Swinton's tanned-out boss, who is wonderful and how the hell did Judd Apatow get Oscar-winning goddess Tilda Swinton in this movie?!?), but more moments of clarity and character consistency would have elevated this to be something like Spy or Bridesmaids. I kept yearning for Brie Larson, possibly the film's unsung MVP, who is clearly in a different kind of romantic movie. Her husband is just an average dude who has a peculiar son and quite frankly she's out of his league, but she's clearly wanted a life like this so badly that she's willing to make sacrifices. Amy hasn't wanted a life at all like the one she got, and despite a series of adorable misadventures, she gets one just like her sister in the end.
Those are my (clearly more aggravated than I initially anticipated) thoughts on Trainwreck-how about yours? Did you enjoy the movie? Did you leave wanting more Schumer as a leading woman (this I can say I absolutely did-there's skill there even if I didn't love what the script did with it)? And what do you think the pitch meeting with Tilda Swinton was like for this film? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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