TRAINWRECK (7 out of 10) Directed by Judd Apatow; Written by Amy Schumer; Starring Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Tilda Swinton, Collin Quinn, John Cena and LeBron James; Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use; Running time 125 minutes, In wide release July 17, 2015.
There is a love/hate relationship with romantic comedies for good reason. Relying on derivative tropes, rarely do they manage to be funny, smart or willing to experiment with something new. “Trainwreck” tries to turn the modern rom-com on its ear with gender-bending the roles, and it’s mostly successful just essentially forgettable.
Amy (Amy Schumer) lives her life unapologetically on her terms. Whether that means she’s partying or sleeping around too much, others’ opinions don’t matter as far as she’s concerned. She has a decent job working for S’Nuff magazine – picture “Maxim” just more juvenile – and gets along well with her foul-mouthed boss Dianna (a wonderful and unrecognizable Tilda Swinton) who is grooming Amy for an editorial promotion. She assigns Amy a story to interview Dr. Aaron Conners (Bill Hader) whose work as a surgeon has revolutionized the sports world by speeding up athletes’ recovery time. As per usual, Amy soon takes Aaron out for drinks and beds him only to discover that she may be falling for him and want more out of their relationship than a one night stand. Not sure how to handle that, she pushes him away at first, but gradually gets used to his shy, almost innocent, advances and has to learn how to give up her vices and live in a real relationship for the first time in her life.
This sounds like the exact same movie made a thousand times over, and it almost is. The big difference here is that instead of having the guy change his life to get the girl of his dreams, Amy is the one making sacrifices and changing her ways to get Aaron. Even the “best friends” role is swapped, but we’ll get there in a minute.
The bigger question is, “Does it work?’ and my answer would be “kind of.”
The big draw here is Amy Schumer who wrote and starred in it. This is completely her baby, and all of her work shines.
First of all, it’s funny as hell, and while the jokes are definitely not something you want young kids hearing – this movie unabashedly wears its R rating on its sleeve – they hit hard and fast and are immensely satisfying even when they’re so downright filthy, people know they shouldn’t be laughing.
The characters are also easy to legitimately care about. Yes, there are the good guy and bad girl roles the actors have to fill, but each are created in such a loving and unique way that audiences will fall in love with them and hope they’ll come through on top. Even when cringing in embarrassment over the situations they have created, we laugh with them and honestly hope for the best.
Interestingly enough, whenever John Cena and LeBron James are on screen, they absolutely steal their scenes. Whether it’s John Cena unsuccessfully trying to talk dirty in bed, or LeBron James grilling Amy about her relationship with his best friend (“And what are your intentions for Dr. Connor?”), these two get some of the best lines and are absolutely irreplaceable in the story. Thankfully, neither is overused which makes them enjoyable without becoming tiring.
Unfortunately because this is a Judd Apatow movie, it is about 20-30 minutes too long. Comedy works best in quick, rapid-fire delivery, so to pad this out with extra scenes just to make it more dramatic is unnecessary and bogs down the entire film. Hopefully someone will eventually get through to him and help him realize that in this genre, less is definitely more.
The biggest problem is that even with swapping gender roles, it’s still the same movie that’s been made time and again and doesn’t provide enough new material or ideas to make it worth a repeat viewing. That’s not to say people shouldn’t go see it; they should and will easily have a great time, but they won’t be quoting it months down the line or pre-ordering the DVD.
In the end, what people will remember most from “Trainwreck” is that it was the launching pad for Amy Schumer’s career, because she will be doing a lot more after this. As far as film itself goes, it’s extremely funny and a good time, but ultimately forgettable.