I am very tempted to use this film’s title to illustrate just how I felt about this movie, but to do so would eradicate the elements of value that it does admittedly bring to the screen. While Trainwreck, written by Amy Schumer, who also stars, and directed by Judd Apatow, is not on quite at the level I was hoping it would be when it comes to comedy, the things it brings to the table in terms of its portrayal of its lead character, a woman, is monumental.
Before I saw this film, I didn’t know much about Amy Schumer. I had never seen Inside Amy Schumer, I had never watched her on Last Comic Standing or Reality Bites Back (and still haven’t) - but from what I had seen on social media, a few words had formed in my mind – raunchy, feminist, hilarious. I didn’t know much about her, but even so I had a preconceived idea of what she was like, and as I told people of my intentions to see Trainwreck I found myself saying things like, “Amy Schumer’s in it! She’s awesome!” and “You don’t know who Amy Schumer is…?” A tad hypocritical, I know. But after seeing Trainwreck, I learned that Amy Schumer is raunchy and hilarious and a complete feminist badass.
The problem with Trainwreck is simply that many of Schumer’s jokes don’t land. It is her first time writing a screenplay, so one can give her the benefit of the doubt for that reason – it’s quite possible that she simply hasn’t learned how to write jokes that will translate well on the big screen. But on top of that, the film – which clocks in at two hours and two minutes – seems to go on for a very long time. There’s a lot that happens, and every time I looked at my watch I thought, “Haven’t I been sitting here for longer than that?”
But the best thing about Trainwreck is undoubtedly its portrayal of the main character, Amy. She lives a lifestyle that is very rarely attributed to women – she is the “playboy” character in female form, a woman who doesn’t give a shit about your gender stereotypes. She drinks, smokes pot, and sleeps with men she picks up at bars, disposing of them when she’s done. If you think about it, this type of female character is almost never shown on the big screen, especially so explicitly – women who behave this way are often branded as sluts or whores (a bit of a double standard, yes? Especially since men are portrayed this way all the time). And that is what makes Trainwreck so refreshing – with this film, Schumer is changing the way women are represented on-screen by allowing for a more realistic portrayal of the sex. Can we have more films like this, please?
Before I saw this film, I didn’t know much about Amy Schumer. I had never seen Inside Amy Schumer, I had never watched her on Last Comic Standing or Reality Bites Back (and still haven’t) - but from what I had seen on social media, a few words had formed in my mind – raunchy, feminist, hilarious. I didn’t know much about her, but even so I had a preconceived idea of what she was like, and as I told people of my intentions to see Trainwreck I found myself saying things like, “Amy Schumer’s in it! She’s awesome!” and “You don’t know who Amy Schumer is…?” A tad hypocritical, I know. But after seeing Trainwreck, I learned that Amy Schumer is raunchy and hilarious and a complete feminist badass.
The problem with Trainwreck is simply that many of Schumer’s jokes don’t land. It is her first time writing a screenplay, so one can give her the benefit of the doubt for that reason – it’s quite possible that she simply hasn’t learned how to write jokes that will translate well on the big screen. But on top of that, the film – which clocks in at two hours and two minutes – seems to go on for a very long time. There’s a lot that happens, and every time I looked at my watch I thought, “Haven’t I been sitting here for longer than that?”
But the best thing about Trainwreck is undoubtedly its portrayal of the main character, Amy. She lives a lifestyle that is very rarely attributed to women – she is the “playboy” character in female form, a woman who doesn’t give a shit about your gender stereotypes. She drinks, smokes pot, and sleeps with men she picks up at bars, disposing of them when she’s done. If you think about it, this type of female character is almost never shown on the big screen, especially so explicitly – women who behave this way are often branded as sluts or whores (a bit of a double standard, yes? Especially since men are portrayed this way all the time). And that is what makes Trainwreck so refreshing – with this film, Schumer is changing the way women are represented on-screen by allowing for a more realistic portrayal of the sex. Can we have more films like this, please?