advertisement

Schumer shines in raunchy, warm-hearted 'Trainwreck'

Stand-up comedian and Comedy Central phenom Amy Schumer proves her cinematic bona fides in "Trainwreck," a strikingly assured feature film debut in which she proves herself as authentic an actress as she is deft as a writer.

A warm, anarchic romantic comedy about a promiscuous journalist adrift in modern-day New York, "Trainwreck" hews to the now-familiar contours of raunchy, R-rated comedy: It trafficks in the frank dialogue, absurd sexual situations and mortifying visual stunts familiar to viewers who made "Knocked Up," "The Hangover" and "Bridesmaids" huge hits. But Schumer - apple-cheeked and blue-eyed, with the mouth of a longshoreman and the countenance of a choir girl - infuses the genre with rare warmth and emotional honesty. Beneath the bravado and how-low-can-I-go posturing beats the fragile heart of a flawed, funny, fascinatingly contradictory woman.

Schumer plays a character named Amy, whom we meet as a 9-year-old girl in the opening scene of "Trainwreck," as her father (Colin Quinn) explains why he's leaving her mother, comparing marriage to playing with the same boring old doll all your life. "Monogamy isn't realistic," he insists.

Twenty-three years later, Amy has taken that lesson to heart. Her little sister (played as an adult by Brie Larson) has gotten married to a good if slightly nerdy guy (Mike Birbiglia), but Amy is creeped out by their domestic bliss. She prefers to drink, get high and cheat on her bodybuilder boyfriend (John Cena) with an ever-changing roster of anonymous one-night stands, whom she routinely dispatches before the sun comes up.

Amy's party-hearty lifestyle provides plenty of comic fodder in "Trainwreck." But it's clear that Amy's commitment-phobia and compulsive self-medication are masking more primal wounds, which come to the surface when she meets a sweet sports doctor named Aaron (Bill Hader), and when her troubled relationship with her father takes an unexpectedly somber turn.

Schumer handles that emotional pivot with exceptional skill and honesty. What makes "Trainwreck" work is that she approaches every beat - funny, serious and in-between - in an open, undefended state. And she's blessed with the perfect opposite number in Hader, who delivers yet another heartfelt, hugely appealing performance as a decent, if slightly out-of-his-depth Everyman. His scenes with LeBron James - who, playing himself, delivers lines about everything from "Downton Abbey" to splitting a lunch check with expert, deadpan timing - lope along with companionable, low-key ease. (The film is studded with star-athlete cameos and features one flawlessly constructed A-Rod joke.)

"Trainwreck" is directed by Judd Apatow, whose films have a tendency to sag and bag and bulge at the edges. This film has the same overlong, digressive streak, but it's in the service of Schumer, whom Apatow naturally follows wherever she goes, even when she winds up in one or two cul de sacs. Tilda Swinton is funny as Amy's brittle British editor, but her scenes have a perfunctory, jaggedly unfinished rhythm. A recurring movie-within-the-movie, starring two recognizable actors, feels like a juicy opportunity missed, and jokes about the racist assumptions Amy has inherited from her father fall thuddingly flat.

Schumer's "Trainwreck" character has been compared to Apatow's similarly directionless, infantile male protagonists, but in many ways she resembles his finest artistic creation: the complex, conflicted Lindsay Weir of his TV series "Freaks and Geeks." Amy exudes more sexual confidence, but possesses similar self-doubt and what just might be a tentative sense of worth.

"Trainwreck" ends on a triumphant but also ambivalent note, with a gloriously goofy set piece that's adorable, physically brave and completely disarming. But, its nod to health and newfound maturity notwithstanding, it also feels like a wholesale - and unnecessary - capitulation.

There's no doubt that Amy's happy ending is earned, and worth cheering. Viewers are left hoping that contentment won't make her any less amazing.

“Trainwreck”

★ ★ ★

Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Tilda Swinton

Directed by: Judd Apatow

Other: A Universal Pictures release. Rated R for sexual situations, nudity, language and some drug use. 125 minutes

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.