Amy Schumer is perhaps one of the most inconsistently funny
people working in comedy today. At
times, she is the queen of feminist social commentary, crafting hilariously
satirical situations via sketch comedy that is poignant and cutting. Other times, though, she can come off as
vindictive and as resentful of other women for qualities that she is
self-deprecating of in her stand-up.
That’s why I ended up feeling a little hesitant about, Trainwreck, her new star vehicle which she also wrote. Fortunately, though, she has some grade-A
talent to back her up behind the director’s chair: Judd Apatow, a man who has
seen little by way of success in recent years.
Yet these two comedians together have made one of the funniest films of
the year, which I doubt they would have been able to separately.
As per usual, Amy Schumer autobiographicalizes her role by
playing a character named Amy, who has problems with sexual intimacy, yet no
problem with sexuality or using weed and booze to supplement her partying
lifestyle. Working for a gossip magazine
that is clearly Schumer’s topical target for venting her feminist ire, Amy gets
assigned to write a story about sports surgeon Aaron Connors (Bill Hader). As she gets to know Aaron, she begins to feel
actual romantic feelings for him, and as she navigates this new relationship
she must tackle her issues with allowing affection into her life.
The comedy is pure Schumer, even if it is wrapped in the
shell of a romantic comedy. The jokes
are often borderline adolescent in their reliance on sexuality and absurdism,
but still relatable to what most people go through in their social lives, work,
and relationships. Schumer has a
definite knack for portraying what it is like to live as a non-skinny girl in a
world that seemingly only rewards women for physical “perfection,” and though
this film is definitely restrained enough to keep its social commentary to a
minimum, the perspective shines through in how Amy’s character seems to have
built up her emotional barriers as a reaction to this.
This is where Judd Apatow comes in, offering a level of
charm that we haven’t seen since his early films. Whereas Schumer has provided the majority of
the comedic influence, Apatow has inserted his trademark emotional influence to
provide support for a relatively standard story. Aaron seems to be genuinely confused when Amy
is unable to make an emotional connection to him, and when she constantly wants
to end things with him because it’s becoming too hard for her, he is strong and
there for her regardless. And yet,
Apatow’s direction is smart enough not to imply that Aaron is saving Amy from
her own emotions, but rather that it is Amy’s responsibility to navigate her
own character arc. It is great to see
that Apatow has the capacity to treat a female protagonist with the amount of
depth that he has given to male protagonists in his previous work.
All in all, Trainwreck
is anything but. It is a sly and witty
film that combines the best qualities of two very funny people and cuts out
most of what can make them relatively unpalatable. The film is by no means perfect, with a few
too many one-note side characters and a few missed jokes here and there, but
overall, this is a hilarious film that I highly recommend, especially to those
who have enjoyed anything that Amy Schumer or Judd Apatow have made in the
past. Hopefully this means that the two
will collaborate in the future. I’d love
to see what else they’d have in store for us.
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