Trainwreck – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Nevermind the idea of this being the funniest movie of the year, for it very well might be the funniest movie in years. For truly, as offensive as some may find this, and despite one 10 to 15-minute block of time I was ready for the movie to just be over, I do believe a star has truly be been born, and I don’t just mean Amy Schumer either.

Review (with Spoilers) – Below

Characters & Story

Due to Amy (Amy Schumer) and Kim’s (Brie Larson) dad Gordon (Colin Quinn), the two girls have grown up to almost polar opposite adults. Kim is very family oriented and has a husband, a step-son, and soon will have a child of her own. As for Amy? Well, she is very much like her father. She has had multiple sex partners, and is blunt, a bit rude, but loveable because no matter how messed up the things she says, 80% of the time it’s funny.

However, the main issue which comes from Amy being like her father is an issue with commitment. Making it so when Dr. Aaron Conners (Bill Hader) comes into her life, it sends shockwaves. For one, he doesn’t fit the type of guys she usually likes, like Steven (John Cena). He is pretty much the total opposite and, to make matters worse, he seems to really care about her and likes her and stuff. All of which makes Amy very uncomfortable and quite insecure, but she is willing to give it a chance since she quite enjoys Aaron.

Thus leading us on a story dealing with Amy adjusting to the idea of being in a real grown up relationship; her trying to manage her father, who has MS and is still as much of an ass as he was when he was young; and her trying her hardest to impress her boss Dianna (Tilda Swinton) in order to get a promotion at the slightly sleazy magazine she works at.

Praise

First and foremost, I have to praise John Cena. For I really had low expectations of him, since pretty much Dwayne Johnson seems to be the only wrestler, I know of, to actually transition to acting and be good at it. However, with Cena playing a muscle head who might have been a homosexual, or at least bi-sexual, I found myself cracking up in damn near every scene he had, and pretty much with every other line.

Cena aside, the movie, in general, is funny and I got 71 real deal laughs out of this. Which I think might be a record when it comes to films I reviewed. Leading to us talking about the star of the movie: Amy Schumer. Now, if you are someone who isn’t uptight when it comes to your taste in comedy, oh you will enjoy this woman. If only because she fully utilizes her stick, yet doesn’t overdo it.

What is meant by that is, all the jokes are the type you would expect from Schumer’s TV show or stand-up specials, and almost every single character but Larson’s, who helps ground the film, seem like they all share Amy’s sense of what is funny. Making it so scene after scene, pretty much you are getting hit with a laugh. Which, I got to admit, has to be thanks to Schumer writing the script, and seemingly able to play on the strengths of her fellow actors/ the sports stars involved. For, granted, Lebron James and Amar’e Stoudemire may not have reached the levels John Cena did, but the way she utilized them made them seem much more interesting, and funnier than I would ever thought they were.

Thus leaving two last topics: The romance and more serious moments of the film. Now, Amy and Hader’s chemistry I won’t say is off the charts, nor will make you think these two should work together again, but their romance is written in such a way which makes you think they are really trying to have Amy’s character blossom. For it shows Amy’s relationship with her father has had a profound effect on her, and arguably not just her romantic life, but also her relationship with her sister. So with Aaron playing the role women often do in romantic comedies, and he plays a role in turning her life around, you can visibly see her evolve on screen.

Then, when it comes to the more serious moments, like scenes between Schumer and Quinn, you can see that as much as Amy may joke around about various things, like family, and while her dad wasn’t the best, he is still her rock and she is definitely a daddy’s girl. To the point that one scene in which she talks about her dad, it truly got me tearing up. Which I wasn’t expecting since usually comedies this good have little to no emotional depth, yet there I was tearing up with the people on screen.

Criticism

The weakest part of the film comes from the obligatory fight which leads to our romantic leads, Amy and Dr. Aaron, going on a break because they feel like they can just not deal with each other anymore. Those 10 to 15 minutes really started to suck on the momentum of the film to the point that I was ready for the film to end. For while their relationship starts fine, and how they fought at first was good, because of it address Amy’s insecurities, and even Aaron’s to a point, one incident leads to a blow up and then you get your generic “I’m going to do a grand gesture to win you back” scene which, admittedly, was funny, but made me roll my eyes.

Outside of that, I do feel that considering Amy wanted to be a journalist, or simply a writer of some form, you’d think more time would have been dedicated to that. Granted, her major writing project is writing on Dr. Aaron, but when that piece gets tanked you’d think we would have saw how serious she was about moving up at her magazine by trying to flesh out, or pitch, different things. That is, rather than sort of devolve from the lead period, to the female lead who is sort of just Hader’s love interest.

Overall: Worth Seeing

With the exceptions mentioned in the criticism, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It was raunchy enough to fit Schumer’s brand of comedy, yet it seems she may have carefully adjusted the script so that each actor, whether professional or moonlighting from basketball or wrestling, didn’t just come off as someone stunt casting. For truly, Cena seems like he could very well follow in Dwayne Johnson’s footsteps due to this role, and while Schumer’s fame mostly comes from her performances, honestly I’d like to see her write more motion pictures as well. For if this is just one of her first times writing a movie, imagine how good she can become with time.

Things To Note

There is a lot of men’s asses being shown in the film, like John Cena’s, which I thought was hilarious and also perhaps Amy poking fun at how much nudity we usually see from women in movies like this.