Crazy Amy

I liked it, it's not like any other Rom-com i've seen before. It's obviously not a masterpiece but it does the job, it's entertaining, funny and different:

The characters are not the typical "model-looking"Rom-com cliché, they are normal looking and relatable characters. the movie is an exaggeration (for comedy proposes of course) of quotidian situations, thoughts, problems etc that happen everyday. People laughed ALL the time during the movie it's been long since I've seen people laugh so much.

I also discovered my new favorite comedian, the brilliant Amy Schummer. If you are looking to have a great laugh and a good time this movie is for you.

There are some makers who although talented in a specific way, move into a space that simply shows their talent to be little. Alexander Payne for example could be making stylized comedies with no problem, but as soon as he moves into elegy and meaning, it all becomes a sophomoric play. We've known Malick in that field and Payne is like a film school grad next to him.

So it would seem Apatow has an effervescent personality, at least enough to want to move out from his comfort zone. He could be cranking penis joke comedies till the cows come home but wants to move into more somber reflection about the pains of life. He has tried this a few times by now.

Here he tries a few switches. A movie about the usual slob who never grew out of adolescence but she's a girl. Men are almost entirely immature or idiots, and for some reason I can't begin to fathom, half of them gay, that is except for the knight in white armor who patiently helps her grow out of herself. He puts them in that New York movie romance where a couple are on and off again and might even think he's turning Woody Allen upside down. Indicative; the familiar romantic scene on a bench looking over at Brooklyn Bridge ends with a blowjob.

None of it sticks after a point and it's off-putting to think he might be thinking of any of this as transgressive. So he has moved out from the familiar safety of what he can do well, into a space that shows him to have trivial insights and odd hangups, from primarily a comedy about life where laughter sanctifies reductions, to primarily a drama about life where muttering dialogue and stereotypes rattle in the nothingness of not having anything to impart. He moves, even if ever so slightly, into territory that Woody, Bergman, and Altman have occupied. But in this space he's shown to be a dunderhead.

This movie is like a lot of similar type of movies; meaning movies that aims to challenge preconceived notions of "what a lady should and should't be like". It quickly becomes banal, predictable and irritating. There's no depth of character here, because you sort of get the gist of the jokes before they're halfway delivered. Having said that; these kinds of movies can and have been saved by good performances. Unfortunately Amy Schumer doesn't deliver that. I don't know why scriptwriters and directors hit the same creative pitfalls every time a movie like this is to be made. We get it: here's an urban girl with a modern outlook on life who does what she wants, sleeps with whom she wants and doesn't apologize for it, etc etc.. good, but then what? A movie needs more than just a cliché of a character, predictable jokes and bad acting.

I really enjoy Amy's TV show and was expecting big things from this movie but ended up feeling I'd wasted my time watching it and it's off delivery leave a bad taste in the mouth. Was it that Amy just wasn't up to a feature length film or was it Judd Apatow's direction that made this not work. Where Amy's mischievous bad taste gender stereotype flipping gags work on her show, here they were missing the knowing nod. Amy fitted her self centered character's skin too well and at feature length you started to believe this was a real person and someone you wouldn't want to spend time with, even in a movie. Schummer was too ugly, and I don't mean that in a physical sense. Hader was good, as were most of the actors, apart from the product placement sports stars. It really started to drag in the last 3rd, possibly because it had nowhere to go, which is exactly where it ended up.

Trainwreck is a pretty good comedy film but it's not as great as everyone says it is. Some people believe it's the funniest film of all time and some think it's the best comedy of this decade so far but I would have to disagree with them. The film is funny but it's not gut busting laughing. The laughs are more of a chuckle. The acting is great everyone played their part very well. Amy Schumer wrote this film and I think she did a great job for writing this film. The chemistry between her and Bill Hader is great. Also this is probably Judd Apatow's best film since 40 Year Old Virgin. The film is more of a chick flick but there are some chick flicks that I thought were funnier than this film like Bridesmaids. Also this could be a great date film for couples. I do find this film way over-hyped and probably one of the most overrated films so far this year. Overall if your a fan of Amy Schumer or Judd Apatow then you'll enjoy this film.