I am an on-again off-again Judd Apatow fan. Back in my mountain dew and cheap beer soaked high school days, I was in an exclusive relationship with everything that was “Freaks and Geeks.” When Apatow jumped his brand of humor to the big screen with “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” he solidified his films with me. I could, and still can, watch those two films over and over again without them getting old.
Then he lost me. “Funny People” and “This is 40” felt different. Too far removed and personal for my tastes. I knew that if I stuck with him long enough though he would come around and eventually hatch out some familiar magic from one of his films.
I wasn’t wrong. “Trainwreck” is the Apatow film that I had been waiting for. It takes us back to the days of his earlier films and is as good, if not better than “Knocked Up.” I really respect the fact that he went outside of his usual suspects lineup of actors that we are used to seeing in his films for some unexpected roles.
“Trainwreck,” focuses on Amy, (Amy Schumer) a girl with a long lineup of one-night-stand relationships thanks to her father, whom convinced her at a very young age that monogamy doesn’t work. That changes when she meets Aaron, a sports surgeon to the stars, that makes Amy question if relationships are something that she may be able to handle between chugs of alcohol and puffs of marijuana.
I know what you are thinking. But I promise you, that although, you are probably a little bit correct in the fact that “Trainwreck” does fall into some romantic comedy tropes, it is not your ordinary boring rom com. For one, it is hilarious and Schumer is such an anomaly that she makes the entire movie feel like something different.
The supporting cast is unexpectedly amazing. Sure, we have Colin Quinn and Dave Attell both playing really funny and memorable parts but the unexpected parts are the best ones. Lebron James plays himself, as well as Aaron’s friend. He is everything that you wouldn’t expect Lebron James to be. For example, he loves “Downton Abbey” and is ultra-sensitive to other peoples relationship problems.
John Cena takes the cake though. Early in the movie he plays one of Amy’s many guys. He is a hulking narcissist that seems to be on the verge of becoming gay but does everything in his power to not admit it. An uncomfortable and hilarious scene involves him and Amy having sex, while he tries and fails to talk dirty to her, instead talking about vitamins and quoting a popular sports commercial slogan.
Everything almost works, if it weren’t for Apatow’s own Apatow kryptonite. He again makes a comedy that is way too long for its own good and the film suffers at points because of it. This film could have been at least fifteen to twenty minutes shorter and would have gained tons of momentum and laughs from it. There are a few scenes in the last half that didn’t even make sense to edit in.
Even with the longer than necessary runtime, this is one of the funniest movies so far in 2015. Schumer made a fan out of me with her quirky and reality rooted performance. She brings the comedy that is needed but is also able to turn that into a vulnerable and broken girl that you can sympathize with.
