'Trainwreck' has gross-outs but is actually almost sweet
鈥淭rainwreck鈥� is the latest entry in the Women Behaving Badly聽sweepstakes, and I liked it better than 鈥淪py,鈥� which is not really saying聽that much. Amy Schumer, familiar from her TV show and stand-up聽routines, specializes in sexually-charged gross-out humor of the sort that聽is usually supplied in by male slobbolas in the movies. It鈥檚 refreshing, in聽very small doses, to see the tables turned.聽
In 鈥淭rainwreck,鈥� she plays Amy, whose father (Colin Quinn), heading聽for a divorce, told her when she was a girl that 鈥渕onogamy isn鈥檛 realistic.鈥澛燬he believed him. And so unlike her older sister Kim (Brie Larson), who聽is happily married, Amy鈥檚 love life is essentially a string of casual hookups聽鈥� until, that is, this commitment-phobe falls for Aaron (Bill Hader), a聽sports surgeon she interviews for a profile at the snarky magazine,聽S鈥橬UFF, where she works. Aaron, despite a clientele including LeBron聽James (in a very funny cameo), is a genial innocent who keeps steering聽Amy, whom he adores, away from her worst instincts.
The surprise of 鈥淭rainwreck鈥� is that, gross-outs aside, it鈥檚 really rather聽tame, almost sweet. Judd Apatow directed, from a script by Schumer, and,聽contrary to public perception, he makes some of the most straitlaced聽movies around. He鈥檚 a family values guy, high on marriage and kids and聽true love.聽Schumer, as a writer for the movies at least, is pretty old-fashioned, too.聽As a performer, she has her moments, but she has the same odd defect as聽several other popular women comics who go into the movies 鈥� I鈥檓聽thinking of Tina Fey and Kristin Wiig in particular. When they are not聽being sly and knockabout, when they are attempting to play 鈥渞eal鈥� people聽in conventional situations, they become blank-faced and dull. The聽overlong 鈥淭rainwreck鈥� would have been better if it had derailed more often. Grade:聽C+ (Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use.)
