So Trainwreck staring Amy Schumer finally came out here in the UK, so I went to see it, and I was pleasantly surprised. This was a thoughtful, endearing comedy that pulled all the right strings, was cast very very well, and was a successful comedy in a year that was seriously lacking them.
To start off, I didn't really know what to expect from this film. I saw the trailer and wasn't blown away, so I was worried this would turn into a stupid gross-out comedy that tried to make the simple jokes. Instead we got a movie that actually makes a point and is strong and doesn't take the easy jokes, most of the time. There were a few moments that did, but you expect that in a movie like this. I tend to not like Amy Schumer's comedy. It has nothing to do with her personally, but for some reason I just don't laugh. However, I thought she was really funny in this movie. Her character was interesting and I loved how she played it. The progression her character takes was great and you saw an attitude shift in her as she gained more and more life experience. She shined in every scene. This was the perfect role for her. But the funniest parts of this movie involved scenes with other characters in it. Bill Hader was great in this. He was really funny and played a great second lead in this movie. He add more weight to Schumer's performance and added to the scenes he was in. His scene with Matthew Broderick and LeBron James in the intervention scene was comic gold.
The smaller roles were great too. John Cena played one of Amy's boyfriends and was spectacular. He has a squeaky clean image in real life, so it was jarring to see him play a dirtier role in this kind of movie, but he was great. I laughed every time he was on the screen. The movie theater bit was particularly scene stealing. The biggest surprise however was LeBron James. He was playing an exaggerated version of himself, but he was really really funny. He has great comedic timing and was the shock of this film. It was a breakout performance for him. He was the comic relief alongside Bill Hader, which is different, but it totally worked I didn't stop laughing when he was onscreen.
I thought this movie was really funny, but sometimes I felt they did take the easy route towards jokes. I really like it when any type of comedy movie or tv show makes jokes about social issues by putting characters in situations where the absurdity of that issue is clearly visible and understandable without the viewer having to be directly told by the writers. The best comedies let the absurdity of social inequality speak for itself, but this film blatantly verbalizes the joke even though it was already evident what they were doing. When this film did it, it didn't feel like the joke was natural. It felt pushed and forced and was jarring and took me out of the movie. I immediately felt like the social critique was being explained to me like I was some sort of idiot. It was disappointing mostly because those scenes had already made their point successfully and didn't need the unnecessary tag.
Overall, this movie was really funny. Was it the funniest movie ever, no. But it was a really good, really smart, socially aware comedy that was well written, directed, cast, and acted. If you are looking for a fun movie for a Friday night go see this. If you are looking for something to see instead of Fantastic Four, see this movie. As for a rating, I give this movie a 3.25 out of 5. Very enjoyable and captivating. Worth a trip to the theater.
No comments:
Post a Comment