There are a good amount of laughs all around, but Trainwreck doesn’t know if it wants to be a comedy or a drama.
If thereโs a romantic comedy with a bit of raunchiness to it, you can bet that Judd Apatow is in some way associated with the project. Over the last 10-15 years, Apatow has directed or produced numerous different films that have come to re-define the genre, e.g. 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bridesmaids, The Five-Year Engagement, Girls, etc. Apatow has proven to be successful with his formula in the past and has an eye for other films that can, in some way, be similar to his style. But that doesnโt always mean everything he touches is a hit.
Trainwreckโs plot is rather simple when it comes down to it: Gordon (Colin Quinn) letโs his young daughters, Amy and Kim, know that him and their mother are getting a divorce. How does he go about telling them? By using Kimโs doll as an example, saying that it wouldnโt be fair if he was only able to play with one doll for the rest of his life. Now older, Amy (Amy Schumer) lives her life by her fatherโs words – โMonogamy isnโt realistic.โ When sheโs not working as a journalist, she finds herself drinking, getting high, and with a different guy every night, living by her fatherโs words. On the other hand, her sister Kim (Brie Larson) appears to be happily married with a stepson, going against what her father taught. Amy and Kim are helping to pack up their childhood home with them having to put their father in a nursing home due to his deteriorating health.
Back at her job, Amy has been given an assignment sheโs really not into at all–interviewing a sports doctor who performs career changing surgeries on a whole bunch of big name athletes, including Tom Brady, Amarโe Stoudemire, LeBron James just to name a few. Amy meets with Dr. Aaron Connors (Bill Hader) at his office and right off the bat things donโt get off to the best of starts. Amy and Aaron go out drinking together one night she ends up going back to his place where they hook up. As Amy goes to leave his place, he doesnโt let her and she ends up spending the night. Things for Amy get a bit weird as it seems like she may actually be liking Aaron which goes against her programming as a person.
Trainwreck is kind of a tough movie to write about since it doesnโt seem like Schumer and Apatow know quite what kind of movie they wanted to make. With Apatowโs experience on re-defining what a romantic comedy is in todayโs society and Schumer becoming what can be described as the new โItโ girl…theyโre just a match made in heaven. What weโre given is a main protagonist that, in reality, feels like her own antagonist in the process. The character Amy isnโt likeable from beginning to end and her โchangeโ doesnโt feel natural or believable. When looking at the formula of Trainwreck, it really feels like an updated, gender-swapped Knocked Up with some different situations obviously. I know that Amy Schumer wrote the script, but it feels so much like Apatow that I have to wonder how much Schumer compromised her voice just to work with the man.
Thatโs not to say Trainwreck is…well, a trainwreck. When the film is funny, itโs legitimately, 100% pure hilarity. Some of the jokes just knock it out of the park and some of the performances are legitimately top notch. A sentence I never thought Iโd say: LeBron James steals almost every scene heโs in. Credit also has to be given to Bill Hader, who proves that heโs one of the most underrated comedic actors working today. Heโs perfect actor to alongside Schumer and is the perfect foil to Schumerโs…Amy. Credit does have to be given to Schumer in the acting department, who proves sheโs capable of leading a film. I imagine sheโll be given another chance and deservedly so.
One of Apatowโs faults, which comes with his successes, is that he doesnโt know when to cut a scene. A lot of the jokes in Trainwreck just kept going and going where they became exhausting and reached a point where it feels like itโs just being bashed over the audience’s head. At a certain point, Apatow needs to realize when a scene is funny and when a scene is over. Itโll help cut the length of his films but a solid 20-30 minutes. At the end of the day, thereโs no doubt that Trainwreck is a funny movie. But when it tries too hard and attempts to be something more, it just feels messy and disorganized. Fans of Schumer will enjoy the chance to watch her on the big screen, but as a whole Trainwreck leaves a lot to be desired.
Trainwreck is directed by Judd Apatow written by Amy Schumer, and stars Schumer, Tilda Swinton, Bill Hader, John Cena, Brie Larson, and Colin Quinn. Trainwreck will be in theaters July 17, 2015.
