Directed by:
Judd ApatowScreenplay:
Amy SchumerCinematography:
Jody Lee LipesComposer:
Jon BrionCast:
Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Colin Quinn, Tilda Swinton, Marisa Tomei, Ezra Miller, John Cena, Katy Mixon, Brie Larson, Bar Paly, Mike Birbiglia, Vanessa Bayer (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
No contemporary filmmaker has chronicled the messy human experience with the eye and ear of a comedic cultural anthropologist like Judd Apatow. Hits as varied as those he's directed, like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and those he's produced, like Superbad and Bridesmaids, are all unified by their honest, unflinching, comic look at how complicated it is to grow up in the modern world. Apatow has also built a history of helping break distinctive new comedy voices into the mainstream, from Seth Rogen to Lena Dunham among many others. Now, in his fifth feature film as a director, Apatow again brings a portrait of an unforgettable character, and a portrayal by a breakout new comedy star, together in Trainwreck, written by and starring Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer) as a woman who lives her life without apologies, even when maybe she should apologize.
Since she was a little girl, it's been drilled into Amy's (Schumer) head by her rascal of a dad (Colin Quinn) 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 (Bill Hader), Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be on to something.
(Universal Pictures US)
Videos (21)
Reviews (6)
I don't know what's wrong with me. This is a pretty functional comedy-drama-romance, but it just didn't entertain me. Amy Schumer presents a character that I can easily dislike, which was pretty much the case throughout. The bright spot was the ending, where I found her enjoyable. But the biggest positive was definitely LeBron James, who has great comedic talent.
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Amy Schumer has always struck me more as a comedian than a potential Oscar-winning actress. Romantic comedies often come with their own set of expectations, so I didn't set the bar too high for this movie, and it pretty much met those expectations. That said, I do appreciate Amy Schumer's humor and would definitely choose her over Katherine Heigl's forced smiles any day. When I weigh the pros and cons, the film lands as a slightly above-average watch. If it hadn't focused so heavily on family values, I might have been a tad more satisfied. / Lesson learned: Being choosy isn't always a bad thing.
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I like Judd Apatow's films, but almost all of them have a problem with the running time and should be about half an hour shorter. And that’s especially a problem with Trainwreck, because following an hour and a half of thumbs of self-absorbed cow who's been carrying around a bunch of traumas since childhood and blaming them on everyone around her just isn't fun. Sure, it all turns into a Hollywood romantic cliché towards the end, but thanks for it. I'd rather have that cliché than thirty extra minutes with this woman. Amy Schumer should keep doing stand-up, where I can ignore her there much easier than if she tries acting or screenwriting.
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Judd Apatow has partially repaired his reputation with me after the very weak This is Forty, although a slight reduction in the running time would definitely have been helpful. Still, Trainwreck is a pretty tightly-paced comedy with an unexpectedly funny LeBron James and a fairly convincing Amy Schumer. I know the longer running time in comedy is such an Apatow trademark, but it only fully worked in Knocked Up. Even so, a pretty good 3 stars.
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I would be interested in knowing what made the distributor, after two overlooked Apatow films, buy Trainwreck, which requires a certain knowledge of American sports and is built entirely on the person of a comedian who is practically unknown in this country. The film’s uniqueness and most of its shortcomings lie in the degree to which the title reminds us of Amy Schumer’s previous work. ___ The narrative has a conspicuously sketch-like nature. The overabundance of supporting characters, comic scenes that go nowhere and cameos of famous athletes fundamentally disrupt the rhythm and the film, already short of supporting plot conflicts, lasts a good half-hour longer than the plot would need. Of course, all of Apatow’s films (and most of the films that he has produced) have the same problem, giving priority to improvised scenes over the cohesiveness and focus of the narrative. Trainwreck is the only comedy-drama work put out by Amy Schumer, who bases her humour on being brutally honest to everyone around her, mainly to herself. ___ The concept of a sexy blonde in a miniskirt who has her sex life completely under control and is not unwilling to talk about it at length is used less imaginatively than in some of the sketches in Inside Amy Schumer, but it is still a pleasurable stirring of the stagnant waters of romantic comedies. Contrary to convention, the sexual predator here is not a man, but a woman whose dilemma consists in whether to continue to resist monogamy and dread the thought of marriage and children or to start behaving less promiscuously and more responsibly. Similar problems are usually solved in films and the “seduce and destroy” method is much more commonly applied by men. What is also likable is the fact that the film does not excuse the protagonist’s manipulative behaviour, tendencies towards alcoholism or lack of empathy, nor does it glorify them. That’s just how she is. ___ The film submits to conventions only in its climax, which also works with the idea that Amy is not ashamed of her sexuality and does not hesitate to use it to get what she wants, even if that involves her sweating and embarrassing herself terribly. She doesn’t become a completely generic female character. Despite that, Trainwreck has a significantly “softer” ending than many pre-Code films about passionate and wilful gold diggers who are so rotten that redemption and reform are no longer a consideration for them. ___ Unlike Amy, the men are very transparent and predictable from start to finish. Whereas in Steven’s case this serves to play with stereotypes (the bodybuilder with homoerotic tendencies), Aaron remains Mr. Perfect throughout the film, so there are not many obstacles to overcome in the relationship between him and Amy. The chemistry between Aaron and LeBron James paradoxically works better, as their relationship has such a functional dynamic that I wondered if the film would break down into another Apatow bromance. ___ Trainwreck is not as sure of its own genre identity as its promotion as a risqué comedy would suggest. The storyline with the sister (whose name is Kim, like Amy Schumer’s real sister) and the father (who, like Amy Schumer’s real father, suffers from multiple sclerosis) is definitely not secondary or negligible. In fact, it has much more emotional impact than the coming together of Amy and Aaron, as it shows us the protagonist without her defensive cynical mask, thus revealing her as a vulnerable, emotionally insecure woman. The scene in which Kim’s stepson Allister is momentarily transformed from a comedic character into an extraordinarily empathetic human being is one of the most moving that Apatow has filmed to date. The film has more such sober, though not cheaply sentimental moments and it’s regrettable that they don’t comprise its focal point instead of dialogue about penis size and pulling a condom out of a cervix. ___ Trainwreck thus turns out to be more honest in the area of emotion than in the area of sex jokes, some of which are a bit forced. Unlike in other romantic comedies, real people with authentic feelings appear in it (at least for a moment here and there). I consider this to be screenwriter Amy Schumer’s main contribution to Judd Apatow’s filmography. For her own film career – and I don’t write this gladly – the actress Amy Schumer would do better to stick to shorter and preferably comedic projects for the time being. 75%
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