Sunday, July 19, 2015

Trainwreck Movie Review: I Laughed my Ass Off


Now, seeing that I have a very tiny ass, I probably should clarify. I laughed all the way through the movie. Very few jokes in the movie didn’t have me or the entire theater rolling. One thing is certain, Amy Schumer can write comedy. If you watch her show, or see her standup, you know she is funny. The movie proves she can also act. This is probably Judd Apatow’s best work since Knocked Up. Though to be honest, I never saw Funny People. If you want a great date movie, that both parties can enjoy, pick Trainwreck. It has something for everyone.
The premise is standard romantic comedy fair, except the roles are reversed. Instead of the Male character playing the promiscuous womanizer who drinks and does drugs, that role is reserved for Amy Schumer character, Amy… She is going to have to eventually branch out and give herself a character name other than her real one. The male lead, Aaron (played by Bill Hader) is settled down and doesn’t date all that often. The setup works brilliantly, and Amy pulls off the role with perfection. She is hilarious, and Bill Hader does a spectacular job playing off her. He is an extremely funny guy, but does a great job playing it straight for the movie. After they meet, the movie then falls back on standard romantic comedy tropes, but it feels fresh with the role reversal.
I truly didn’t know how they would end the movie. I wasn’t sure if they would make it a happy ending, or go somewhere different. If you want to find out which way it went, go pony up the dough and see the movie, it is well worth it. Along with Amy and Bill there are some great cameos from a few sports stars. LeBron James plays Dr. Aarons’ buddy who wants him to be happy. LeBron does a great job playing a version of himself. The other cameo/role is from John Cena, who plays Amy’s boyfriend at the start of the show. He is hilarious. I don’t want to spoil anything, but his small role alone is worth the price of admission. He had me cracking up. The other supporting cast members are great, Colin Quin as Amy’s dad is funny as hell.  Brie Larson does a good job as Amy’s somewhat normalized sister. The only one who’s jokes didn’t hit all the time was Tilda Swinton who played Amy’s boss Dianna. I honestly didn’t know it was her who played the boss until I looked it up. She did a good job, but her jokes seemed a little forced. They went for awkward situational laughs from her, and they fell flat a few times.
The only other issue with the movie is its run time, which seems to be a theme with Apatow flicks. They could have cut a few scenes and it would have moved the movie along. A few times the scenes felt thrown in and interrupted the entire flow of the movie. A couple of times it felt like the scenes where part of a skit show. Granted that’s what Amy Schumer usually rights for so that could be expected. One cameo scene in particular could have been left out altogether.  This is really the only issue with the movie, and I still laughed through the parts that could have been cut.
The movie also had a surprisingly amount of heart. I was expecting more raunchy fun, but got some actual drama. I think they did a good job of showing how damaged Amy character was, and trying to justify some of her actions through these issues. It is what drove the movie forward, instead of just being a hodge-podge of different sketch scenes. It shows Amy Schumer has the potential to be a comedy movie star. We will have to see what she does with follow-up movies, but her first one was a roaring success.
I had a great time watching Trainwreck, and would watch it again. Not in theaters, but will definitely watch it again once it comes out on blu-ray. I’m not sure it is one I will pick up the day it comes out.  It is one you can wait for the price to drop and it go to the 7.99 sale bin. Still worth owning, but I usually don’t shell out for comedies on day one blu-ray releases datesJ. It was a great weekend at the movies. Ant-Man and Trainwreck where both stellar. Hopefully the rest of the summer continues the good trend.

My Rating: Own on Blu-Ray

Top Five Favorite Romantic Comedies
1.      The Princess Bride: Not really sure it qualifies as a Rom-Com, but it doesn’t really fit anywhere, which is why it’s so great!!
2.      High Fidelity: This movie is the reason I make all my list five instead of tenJ
3.      The Wedding Singer: My first dance with my wife was to the song Adam Sandler sings to Drew Barrymore on the plane
4.      Chasing Amy:

5.      Clueless: just because I can include it on two top five’s on blogs in a week

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