'Trainwreck'

In cinemas August 14th!

Amy (Amy Schumer) is the worst kind of independent woman, she drinks, she parties, she’s sexually independent and she uses men as disposable playthings easily manipulated to satisfy her needs without any concern for theirs. She’s basically the emotionally unavailable male character in any other average rom-com reworked into a female lead but with all the negative character traits turned up to a hundred percent.

The film is smart enough not to pretend that any of this is in any way a positive step for woman kind, I mean it’s in the title, she’s a train wreck. This is due in part to some truly horrifying fatherly advice that has left Amy convinced that monogamy is impossible and family life is a blackhole that destroys all. To make matters somehow worse Amy works for the most toxic lifestyle magazine imaginable, S’nuff, surrounded by a host of despicable characters who make her appear almost saintly by comparison.

During a pitching session that includes such articles as “You Call Those Boobs?” Amy’s boss, who is quite possibly pure evil, forces an assignment onto her and sends her out to interview Aaron (Bill Hader), a doctor who works largely with pro athletes and famous sports stars, primarily because Amy doesn’t want to do it. As soon as the interviews start Aaron sees straight through Amy and the two of them begin an unlikely friendship that turns into a love Amy isn’t sure she deserves.

So far so rom-com, with the modern edge of not being afraid to talk about sex and other subject matters generally avoided in this traditionally more family friendly genre (this is a Judd Apatow movie after all). But despite in my opinion having a few too many gay jokes the film manages to stay on the comfortable side of of the politically incorrect gross out comedy that I’m actually not a fan of. This film I am a fan of though. I was laughing practically from the first line to the very end, as was the rest of the theatre.

There is a problem but it’s something of a superficial problem. As I mentioned Aaron is a sports doctor and no small amount of the film is centred around this. Aaron’s best friend is LeBron James who is just one of a string of cameos, all largely sports related and ninety percent of which I drew a blank on, including LeBron. This left a big hole in the movie that never quite got filled for me. Now I understood how it was funny to see the various athletes playing against type, and they all do a really good job even though acting is obviously not inside their comfort zone. LeBron is a particular highlight, almost everything he says is hilarious and you end up looking forward to his next appearance the whole way through.

This leaves me in a curious position, I’m cutting the film a little slack in the weaker moments because I’m assuming I just didn’t get the joke or reference however it’s possible these moments were just weak. But as it is I’m not enough of a sports fan, or enough of an American to understand the truth behind this so I have no choice but to be in the dark.

On top of this the plot isn’t actually that interesting, socially dysfunctional Amy meets straight laced Aaron, but there’s conflict as she has to learn to love herself and withdraw from her downward spiral of a life, and this all threatens to destroy their relationship and blah blah blah. Yes it’s somewhat novel to see the gender flip of the scenario and it’s kind of odd that I haven’t mentioned this until now, but it’s not like the film is making a political statement so I’m only mentioning in so much as to say it’s a refreshing outlook the same way that the Apatow produced 'Bridesmaids' was.

Normally I don’t go for comedy that relies on shock humour, I’m of the opinion that the 'American Pie' franchise is one of the biggest plagues on cinema; however the themes are interesting (even the elements I didn’t understand) and the film is honestly funny enough to keep the uninspiring plot engaging all the way to the end. Basically it’s a comedy that’s really funny, what more can you ask for.

Review by Kristian Mitchell-Dolby.

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