They say timing is everything…
And this may just be Amy Schumer’s time.
Her new slightly subversive romantic comedy TRAINWRECK is fresh, smart, honest and right on target. And that she actually wrote the screenplay and co-produced the movie didn’t hurt.
Amy KNEW what she was doing.
But there is another element to TRAINWRECK. It’s the directing for which one of today’s hottest comediennes turned to R-rated yuk-meister Judd Apatow co-produced the picture with Schumer. Schumer plus Apatow makes for a sure bet for laughs. Or as her dad (Colin Quinn) told her years earlier, “Monogamy isn’t realistic.”
TRAIN WRECK recollects many of Schumer’s OWN dating disasters and delivers them to the big screen with an honest, no-filter, take-no-prisoner frankness.
Schumer plays a New York City based writer for S’NUFF magazine whose dating escapades are pretty well limited to one-nighters with the latest guy she meets.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that—at least in her mind.
But all that changes when she’s assigned to interview sports medicine doctor (Bill Hader) who’s immediately smitten with Schumer.
Hader plays it straight. She not so much, which makes for two hours of laugh out loud, yet sometimes wincing phobia.
“You go down on me too much,” she complaints. But she immediately corrects that thought with “Don’t try to spin this into a reason for not going down on me.”
You get the picture….
A fun addition to TRAINWRECK is basketball star LeBron James who is best pals with Hader. He adds a running gag to the film that had our screening audience in stitches.
But like many Apatow movies, LeBron James isn’t the only cameo here. A host of familiar faces keep popping up including Dave Attell, Marisa Tomei, Jim Norton, Method Man and Vanessa Bayer – just to name a few.
And surrounding Schumer and Hader in top notch supporting roles are Tilda Swinton, John Cena, Brie Larson and the aforementioned Colin Quinn.
Amy Schumer has been around a while, but she’s now on the fast track to the top—a well deserved position for this talented and personable performer.
(And I can vouch for her pleasant disposition having met her at CinemaCon earlier this year.)
“This is clearly not my first rodeo,“ Schumer proclaims in the film.
It’s one of her best, though. But definitely NOT for the easily offended!
TRAINWRECK scores a solid B+.
(Reviewed at AMC Barrywoods)
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings at 6:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. on 98.1FM, KMBZ and anytime on Facebook.
Love Amy…looking forward to it.