Amy (Amy Schumer) leads a cynical and freewheeling lifestyle in NYC as a professional tabloid writer by day, drunk and pot-smoking anti-monogamist by night. But when she is assigned to do a cover story on a top surgeon for sports stars (Bill Hader), she begins to panic that she may be experiencing true love for a change. TRAINWRECK tries to sugar-coat itself as an edgy new look at the rom-com genre but much to my disappointment, it is just another boringly average rom-com through and through. For a film chiefly designed by Schumer herself to break out in Hollywood, the film oddly has her be upstaged by her co-stars in nearly every scene. The film shows that she can be a leading lady and a new voice for women in film comedy but all of the best bits and standout moments go to Brie Larson, Tilda Swinton, John Cena, Colin Quinn and the like. She also isn't really helped by director Judd Apatow, who once again shows his below average directorial skills. Examples of Apatow's poor handling include: Unending less than stellar improv, rapid story progression that comes out of nowhere, major characters are suddenly scuttled off, useless random cameos, a dreadful film-within-the-film, and a refusal to bring a coda or explanation for Schumer's snarky narration during the first half of the film. His severe lack of being a visual artist also hampers the picture, leaving cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes to constantly deliver flat mise en scene save for a beautifully crafted moment where we follow the main couple from a small bar to a taxi cab. However, despite these and other reservations, I do find the movie to be overall adequate for viewing. It has some nice moments of honesty and the dirty humor leads to some pretty good laughs. Plus, LeBron James easily steals the show by mocking his own life and how sports celebrities act in the real world.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
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