Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader and Lebron James
Directed by: Judd Apatow
Rated: R
Running time: 2 hrs 5 mins
Universal
Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars
I sometimes wonder who decides on the titles of films. When the film “Wind” came out I’m sure there was more than one critic who summed up the film by saying, “WIND Blows!” So if you’re going to call a film “Trainwreck”…. I think you get the picture.
We meet nine-year old Amy (Devin Fabry) and her little sister, Kim (Carla Oudin) as their father (Colin Quinn) is explaining to them why he and their mother are getting a divorce. He doesn’t make a lot of sense to the girls but Amy does take to heart one piece of wisdom from her dad: “Monogamy isn’t realistic.” Now in her early 30’s, Amy (Schumer) is still following her dad’s advice, hopping from relationship to relationship with no thought of the other person. She has convinced herself she will never fall in love. And then she meets Dr. Connor (Hader).
A hit and miss comedy that at times hits and at others misses badly, “Trainwreck” isn’t one, but it teeters in that direction. The ads proclaim that it’s “from the guy who brought you Bridesmaids,” (which Apatow produced) but unfortunately it’s not from the gal that wrote “Bridesmaids.” Star Amy Schumer wrote the script here, and while the film is funny in parts, sometimes the raunch factor is so over the top that you wonder how a skilled comic mind like Judd Apatow let some of the “jokes” slip by. And this is coming from someone that loves a good dirty joke.
The film’s saving grace is its cast. Bill Hader is so damn likeable that you can’t help but wish he had chosen a better film. Schumer also credits herself well here, though you wish she had a better writer. Tilda Swinton is unrecognizable as Schumer’s magazine editor-boss and delivers many of the laughs. But I have to give a special shout-out to Lebron James and WWE star John Cena, both of who prove themselves very funny people indeed. Would love to see the two of them teamed up in a film, like Van Damme was with Dennis Rodman in “Double Team.” That would be a collision I’d welcome seeing.