There is a reason that I hate most romantic comedies. It’s not because of the lack of realism in the plot. I can pretty much enjoy anything that requires a leap of the imagination. Nope, it’s because there’s never a character I can identify with. The girl is always this Type A, high strung ball breaking business women who never had time to settle down because of her career.
Note to movie writers, some of us aren’t in relationships and it has nothing to do with our careers. Some of us are just incredibly immature bed hopping binge drinkers. I can’t identify with some Type A nutjob. That’s why I don’t like romantic comedies and that’s why I loved Trainwreck. Finally, there is a character that represents us. For the first time, I didn’t just like a romantic comedy. I loved a romantic comedy. For that, I thank Amy Schumer.
Trainwreck starts out with young Amy learning all about the dangers of monogamy from her father, who explains it by asking Amy “What if I told you this was the only doll you could ever play with for the rest of your life?” Drilled that monogamy is a bad thing, Amy lives on one night stands and drunken benders. That is until she meets a cute, almost virginal doctor in the course of her job as a magazine writer. Then starts Amy trying to grow up and settle down.
It’s a paint by numbers rom-com but what made it shine is the edge. That edge comes in the form of Amy Schumer and some seriously biting sarcasm and humor. There are so many laugh out loud moments. They’re able to keep it rude without going too crude, and it sucks any overly sappy sweetness right out of the movie.
A rom-com without sap. I didn’t think it was possible. I think it probably has something to do with some of the most flawless casting I’ve ever seen.
Colin Quinn was a stroke of genius as the belligerent, commitment probe dad. While I have never once thought of Bill Hader as a romantic lead, it this movie he just plain shines. While some thought the movie was too cameo heavy, I found that they managed to fit in the cameos pretty seamlessly.
Especially the movie long cameo for LeBron James. He plays Hader’s best friend and he’s pretty good. A lot of that was smart writing. They knew to not give James more than he could handle, and he handled it well. You never forget he’s LeBron James, but I imagine that’s probably what being LeBron James’s best friend is like anyway.
But the big star in this one is Amy Schumer. She is just plain fantastic in this movie and I think it might be her breakthrough. This girl is about to go from being a cable cult following, to a big name star. They didn’t change her up too much from her personality on “Inside Amy Schumer” but it still worked for a romantic comedy.
Trainwreck was very well written and even better cast. If you like Amy Schumer, and even if you hate romantic comedies, this one is worth the watch.
WE GIVE IT: 4.5 STARS!
