Reviews

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  ★★★½ review by Eli Hayes on Letterboxd

  Yes, this was very funny, but how hard am I supposed to be capable of laughing during a film featuring Tilda Swinton alongside Ezra Miller? I was having incessant We Need to Talk About Kevin flashbacks.

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  ★★★★ review by Josh Larsen on Letterboxd

  Denial plays a crucial role in Schumer's comedy. Sometimes it’s innocuous, as in a very funny aside in which Amy claims she’s had nothing to eat that day – and then rattles off a seemingly endless list of the unhealthy items she’s consumed before lunch. Yet often her exasperated denials involve more significant things, such as her drinking or her sexual habits. Amy’s worst moments – when she’s caught lying about the men whose names are on her phone, for instance – simultaneously work as opportunities for internal confession. Watch carefully as her comically brazen lies wind down into mumbled concessions. There’s usually a quiet epiphany at the end.

  Full review here.

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  ★★★½ review by Tasha Robinson on Letterboxd

  Another overlong, undisciplined, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-thrown-in Judd Apatow movie, but easily the one I've liked most, with fewest reservations. Amy Schumer's confrontational, crude, daring form of humor translates really well to the rom-com (heavy on the com, low on the rom), and particularly well to the Apatow formula of a character behaving badly (but being entertaining) for most of the film, then deciding to grow up and become a responsible adult in the last act. As always, there's a lot of room for side business and cameos, some of which could have been cut to get this film under two hours, though the LeBron James stuff is gold — particularly the casually brutal one-on-one basketball game with Bill Hader. There are a lot of comedy misses in this film, which is all over the place — I saw it in a fairly full theater, which was stonily silent for long stretches — but the bits that land make it worth it. So does the sheer relief of seeing what's become a very familiar formula get some new life out of a much-needed gender reversal.

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  ★★★½ review by Mr. DuLac on Letterboxd

  I like you, Amy. You're clever but you're not too brainy. You're prettyish but you're not too gorgeous. You're approachable.
  
  -Dianna

  It doesn't make the distinction of breaking away from the tried and true rom/com formula that has been followed since the dawn of time, but it does flip the script on the typical male and female roles. Here the woman is our main character and she is the one that parties, sleeps around and has avoided commitment her whole life. Usually regarded as unacceptable behavior for women in film as it's reserved for the guys, usually the star. It's probably not the first rom/com to do this, but it happens so rarely that it feels like it is.

  I like Amy Schumer. Her stand up and sketch comedy tackle subjects that are often ignored and sometimes even have something intelligent to say under the very dirty humor. So yeah I'm happy Judd Apatow decided to direct her from her own script, going from Comedy Central straight to the silver screen... which is probably the film's main problem.

  Schumer went from writing sketch comedy to writing a feature film, and maybe that's why it feels like a lot of the characters are under-developed. The film is still funny with some standout moments, but if you take Bill Hader for instance, his character has barely anything to him. He still turns on the charm in the role though.

  That does make me wonder though if the roles were reversed would I have noticed the lack of character development? I'm not sure. Schumer still has a great character arc though with some emotional bumps along the way adding to the story. It works.

  Schumer is naturally funny and this is a very strong start for her in both staring in a feature film and writing one. I expect her to just get better her next go around at it which I'm hoping is sooner then later.

  I've also now seen much more of John Cena then I ever wanted to.

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  ★★★★ review by Corey Atad on Letterboxd

  A little story.

  T'was Friday night. I had gotten off work at 9pm and felt like seeing a movie. Ant-Man was an option, but I'm sure you know how I feel about Marvel (puke). Paper Towns looked intriguing, mostly because Cara Delevingne's eyebrows are transfixing. I settled on Trainwreck, though. I do like Apatow, even Funny People.

  I arrived at the theatre for the 10:15 show with some time to spare and took a seat near the front, behind the wheelchair section. A selfish move on my part. I like putting my feet up on the bars.

  I sat three seats away from my nearest neighbours, with three more empty seats to my left, along the aisle. I happily sat through the parade of ads and trailers for some awful looking movies. Then the Universal logo began to play. The movie was starting. and just as that was happening, a young woman walked into the theatre, up the aisle, and took a seat next to me.

  I was instantly weirded out.

  Who does that? Who walks into a movie theatre by themselves and sits right next to another loner?

  It only got worse as the movie went on. She slowly got more relaxed, putting her feet up and curling up in her chair, getting closer and closer to me. During romantic scenes she'd turn even more on her side, with her head very nearly on my shoulder as I tried desperately to preserve some sembelence of personal space.

  It was like that the entire time. I could hardly bring myself to laugh out loud, or even turn my head to look at this strange person, for fear of making an already awkward situation even more awkward. And there she was, the whole time, laughing, taking it easy, enjoying herself. And when the movie was over and the credits started rolling, she got up, grabbed her purse and left. It was, without hesitation, the weirdest experience I've ever had in a movie theatre.

  Trainwreck was great, by the way. Loved it.

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