Movie Review: Trainwreck

Comedy/Romance

Rated – MA15+

Duration – 125mins

Release – August 2015

Director – Judd Apatow

Cast – Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, LeBron James, Tilda Swinton



Mr Knight
Trainwreck at first delivered all that it promised in its title. Amy Schumer, the new American comedy sensation, stars as a writer for a trashy magazine watching her adult life flow down the toilet powered along with all the booze, drugs and emotionless sex she subjects herself to. Amy’s life reflects her father’s misguided teachings from her childhood and it isn’t until she meets Bill Hader’s character, elite sports Doctor Aaron, that things turn for her.

The movie starts out with some genuine laughs that come easily and don’t feel forced. Amy and her “sort of” boyfriend, professional wrestler John Cena’s Steven, have some memorable moments including an incredibly awkward sex scene, and LeBron James also brings a smile portraying himself as a tight-ass best friend, despite his elite sports star status and income. Tilda Swinton’s trashy magazine editor made me want to bang my head on a desk!

Bill Hader played a relatively straight edge character whose humour mostly revolved around his realistic attitude and Amy’s unreasonable one. As the movie develops it changes from rom-com to com-rom, leaving the laughs behind and becoming more and more serious.

It managed to keep my attention for its majority but started to drag as it reached its end. I remember saying to Mrs Knight that the movie was just as long as Mission Impossible! In my opinion for a rom-com, it needed to shave off thirty minutes.

Trainwreck had some laughs. It didn’t try too hard to be funnier than it was, but I don’t think I’d ever watch it again.






Mrs Knight
Trainwreck tells the story of Amy, played by the writer, Amy Schumer. We see the gender roles reverse in this movie, compared to your average Katherine Heigl rom-com. Amy believes her unconventional fathers every word in that monogamy is unrealistic. We see her party and sleep around with multiple guys before work assigns her a job to write a story on a Sports Doctor, Aaron. His keen nature takes her by surprise and they end up falling for each other.

While the story is slightly predictable, the comedy isn’t. Overall I enjoyed the film and found all the characters to be likeable, which is rare! I loved that LeBron James played himself and made fun of himself in the process. I was also pleased to see ‘Fresh off the boat’ comedian, Randall Park make an appearance. I didn’t even recognise Tilda Swinton, who looked gorgeous by the way.

The film is more than just your average rom-com, it’s about family and the relationship between father/daughter and sisters. It’s also about her career and friendships.

It felt a little too long towards the end, but finished strong and kept me smiling. It won’t blow you away and is a little cruel and crude at times, but it’s good for a laugh.