Review: Trainwreck (2015)

Since she was a little girl, it’s been drilled into Amy’s (Amy Schumer) head by her dad that monogamy isn’t realistic. Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo – enjoying what she feels is an uninhibited life free from boring romantic commitment – but in actuality, she’s kind of in a rut. When she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of the new article she’s writing, a charming and successful sports doctor named Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be on to something.

There’s no question that Judd Apatow is one of the best comedic minds in Hollywood but his last two films were received by many as disappointments that didn’t bring the raunch, humor and heart that Apatow is best known for. Apatow’s latest film, Trainwreck sees Apatow collaborating with Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer) who has both written the script and stars in the movie as well.

What matters though is that Trainwreck is actually funny and it is one of the best films of Apatow’s short career. Trainwreck benefits heavily from Amy Schumer’s smart writing that manages to subvert most romantic comedy clichés despite reverting back to them later on. One of the best things about this movie is Amy Schumer. She’s really great playing what she describes as an exaggerated version of herself. Her character is funny, interesting and even though she’s essentially a trainwreck you do find yourself rooting for her. Bill Hader is also very good in this movie giving a fairly grounded performance as sports doctor Aaron Conners, both he and Schumer have great chemistry and you really do buy them being together. Another great thing about this movie is the random but exceedingly funny supporting performances. You have everyone from LeBron James to John Cena to Tilda Swinton to Ezra Miller (creepy as hell) showing up in this movie and they all feel perfectly cast. John Cena and LeBron James give two of the best and funniest supporting performances in the movie.

Like all Apatow movies however, Trainwreck suffers from an excessive run-time. Even though it clocks at a mere 125 minutes the movie feels about twenty minutes longer and the final act feels somewhat bloated. Another thing that I mentioned before is that even though the movie does best to stray away from the rom-com clichés it ends up falling to almost every single one in the book and I think the last 30-35 minutes of the movie are pretty predictable that don’t offer something you haven’t already seen in every romantic comedy ever made which is disappointing because for the most part this movie is a very unique, funny and genuinely engaging movie.

All in all, Trainwreck is Judd Apatow’s best work in years. The movie, despite being somewhat flawed is a very funny film with some a surprising amount of heart as well. Amy Schumer is the star of the show both with her writing and her performance and she is complimented wonderfully well by Bill Hader and an oddball supporting cast featuring, LeBron James, John Cena, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson and many more.

7.2/10

-Khalid