Amy Schumer Brings an Abundance of Laughs to the Big Screen

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in "Trainwreck"
Photo Credit: Ledger Gazette

While some of director Judd Apatow’s films are better than others, you can’t deny that he has a knack for showing the comedy in situations that have a true-to-life feel, such as a man trying to lose his virginity in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” an unplanned pregnancy in “Knocked Up,” a standup comedian dealing with a cancer diagnosis in “Funny People,” and a couple going through a midlife crisis in “This Is 40.”

Apatow now teams up with rising star Amy Schumer to bring us his hilarious romantic-comedy, “Trainwreck,” a story about a young woman trying to get her life in order.

When she was a young girl, Amy Townsend (Schumer) and her sister were taught by their father that monogamy isn’t realistic.  23 years later, Amy is working as a magazine writer in New York City and living a life of fleeting romances.  When she is given an assignment to interview sports doctor Aaron Connors (Bill Hader), he begins to express feelings for her.  While Amy isn’t quite receptive to this at first, she soon starts to realize that she might have feelings for him as well.

Schumer certainly has what it takes to be one of the next top actresses in comedic cinema.  She exhibits the talent that’s needed for starring in a movie and has wonderful on-screen chemistry with the other cast members, especially Hader, and this is a bond that makes him and Schumer into a terrifically comical couple.  Besides the humor that’s in the film, there are also some unexpected emotional moments that provide Schumer’s character with more depth and allow her to show another side of her acting abilities.

The supporting cast includes two surprisingly funny performances from basketball legend LeBron James and wrestler John Cena, which is something I never imagined I would say.  Usually, hiring professional athletes to act can be very risky, but the risk certainly pays off for the film.  Tilda Swinton also appears in a very humorous role as Amy’s boss.

One for the best aspects of the screenplay, which Schumer wrote, is that it adds some changes to the romantic-comedy formula.  Although the final outcome is predictable, the situations that Amy finds herself in, whether they be hilarious or emotional, are what separate this from many other films of the genre that we have seen in the past.  

What’s also commendable about her screenplay is that it doesn’t just focus on the main character’s dating life, but also her family life, such as her relationships with her father and sister.  Schumer uses the subplot involving Amy’s family as a way to help create a steady and rewarding development of her character as we see her trying to figure out where her life is going.

Just as Apatow has shown in his previous movies, he has the ability to make his cast members really connect on screen, and that’s essential when he depicts his films’ humorous situations, each having a certain degree of realism.  He has skills in bringing forth the wit and emotions of his films’ scenarios and displaying his characters trying to sort out the problems in their day-to-day lives.

Before “Trainwreck,” Schumer found success on television with her sketch-comedy show, “Inside Amy Schumer.”  Now, after trying her hand at cinema, she shows a lot of potential for expanding her career into movies.  If this film is anything to go by, I’m positive that Schumer will be given many more opportunities to impress moviegoers with her sharp humor.

Final grade: A-