Film review: Trainwreck

Last night my amazing Nan looked after Leo so Oli and I could go out for the evening. When faced with a whole evening to ourselves, my husband and I are not ones to head out for food to a fancy restaurant or go out for drinks in some flashy bar. If we have a baby free night then there is only one place we are going and that is to the cinema.

We usually end up watching a film we are both looking forward to, so it is not very often just one of us chooses the film. Last night we went to watch Trainwreck, a film that is much closer to the romantic comedy than it is to the action packed blockbuster. It was totally my choice but I am pleased to say that although it’s plot was essentially just another love story, Oli laughed a long just as much as me.

Image courtesy of imdb.com

Trainwreck is about magazine writer Amy (Amy Schumer) who, as a child, took the warning words from her father that ‘monogamy is not realistic’ to heart. As an adult, Amy is career driven, promiscuous and in her own words ‘a very sexual person’. She seems to be enjoying her carefree lifestyle and ridicules all the people around her who are in happy relationships, most of all her younger sister Kim.

However, everything changes when Amy is forced to interview and write an article about sports doctor and surgeon, Aaron Connors (Bill Hader). Although Amy was not the one to pitch the article, her pushy, bitchy boss forces her into it, her logic being Amy’s hatred for sport would make for an edgier article. Things start to change for Amy as she and Aaron start to fall for each other. It is not all easy for them though and you are left wondering until the very end if poor old Amy will ever find true love.

If you want to have a good laugh but also get drawn in to a great plot with characters you can relate to, then Trainwreck is definitely the film for you. I have not seen Amy Schumer in anything before, I was pleasantly surprised at how good she was. She plays Amy brilliantly, her jokes funny and perfectly timed. The film starts strong with a hilarious scene where we see young Amy and Kim being grilled by their cheating, about to be divorced father, as he compares Kim’s doll to his wife, ‘how would you feel if I told you that you can only play with that one doll..forever?’. The jokes keep coming as we meet Amy and she gives us a glimpse into her promiscuous lifestyle, be prepared for lots of cringe inducing sex scenes that are also laugh your pants off funny.

Just as Schumer makes an excellent leading lady, Bill Hader surprised me and was interesting as well as funny in his role as love interest Aaron. It was nice to see Hader in a leading role and he and Schumer work really well together on screen. Trainwreck starts to lose it’s way slightly in the middle when things take a bit of a more serious turn. The jokes become few and far between and unless you are up to date on all your American sports players, some of the jokes may go whizzing over your head like a basketball thrown by LeBron James, he’s in it by the way. Fear not, I did not stay bored for long and as the film started to wrap up I found myself laughing again and during the final scene I could not stop smiling. Schumer, girl, you have got some moves.

There has not been a film since Bridesmaids that has made me laugh this much. If you are a fan of the 2011 Kristen Wiig chick flick then I am pretty confident you well love this film too. Both films are directed by Judd Aptow and have the same kind of feel, a funny girl prone to self destructive behaviour falls in love – what’s not to like?

I loved this film and inspired by Amy’s party antics, Oli and I headed to the pub after. It is not very often we have a baby sitter, we don’t all have the luxury of drinking champagne in the morning like a certain Amy.

Rating: * * * *