TRAINWRECK Review — Amy Schumer Blows Hard

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Trainwreck reviewBy Lisa Johnson Mandell

Here’s the thing: You either get Amy Schumer or you don’t. I don’t. I think her humor is snarky and mean spirited and her foul mouth makes me uncomfortable. I say this knowing full well that she’s the hottest thing on TV right now, and soon to be the hottest thing on the big screen as her new, Judd Apatow directed film Trainwreck opens. I express my incomprehension of her humor with a full awareness of the fact that I will be called sexist, anti-feminist, anti-plus-sized and an old fart in general. I don’t care. I think she’s annoying. She would probably find me annoying too.

Trainwreck is basically a one-note comedy, without any nuance, subtly or plot. Schumer plays a young journalist writing for a sleazy men’s magazine, and is supposedly up for a promotion to the executive editor position. (Poor research on the script here — no one EVER leaps from reporter to executive editor.) But when she falls for the subject of her latest article, a sports surgeon played by Bill Hader, what will become of this good time Charlize? Although that’s the storyline, Trainwreck is really about a crude, sarcastic, commitment phobic woman feeling confused and uncomfortable when she becomes involved with a man worth pursuing. See Amy Schumer fall into bed with ridiculous man after ridiculous man, and watch her eviscerate them with her dry wit. Rinse. Repeat. How many silly sex faces must we endure in one movie?

That being said, there are a few highlights. Trainwreck starts out hilariously with Amy’s dad, played by Colin Quinn, explaining why he and her mom are splitting up, and in essence, why Amy becomes all about the one night stand. And the appearances of pro athletes like LeBron James and Amar’e Stoudemire, among a number of others, playing themselves, is worth the price of admission alone. They go way above and beyond what’s expected, partially because their parts are written so well, by Schumer herself, incidentally.

But I found myself constantly checking my watch, wondering when this two hour, brassy girl meets boy, brassy girl loses boy, brassy girl reunites with boy story would ever end. And I couldn’t help but wonder why, in the end, the brassy girl succumbs to the very stereotypes she rails agains throughout the film. It has to do with cheerleaders, and while it could well be Schumer’s most engaging moment, it’s still a head scratcher. And Trainwreck might make you want to scratch other body parts as well — how is it that there’s so much indiscriminate sex and not an STD in sight?

Rated R

2 Hours 2 Minutes

Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

TRAINWRECK Review — Amy Schumer Blows Hard

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Lisa Johnson Mandell

Lisa Johnson Mandell is an award winning journalist, author and film/TV critic. She can be heard regularly on Cumulus radio stations throughout the US, and seen on Rotten Tomatoes. She is the author of three bestselling books, and spends as much of her free time as possible with her husband Jim and her jolly therapy Labradoodle Frankie Feldman.

2 Comments

  1. Daniel Phillips on July 18, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    Almost locked out in the beginning. Found out later my two friends who were with me had contemplated the same thing. The vote is it still out if our lives would’ve been better if we had followed through with that

  2. Daniel Phillips on July 18, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    Almost locked out in the beginning. Found out later my two friends who were with me had contemplated the same thing. The vote is it still out if our lives would’ve been better if we had followed through with that

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