Amanda's Review: Trainwreck

Hello Everyone,

I saw Trainwreck on Saturday and I have to say...just like Ant-Man, I was totally surprised. I honestly thought the movie would be a little trashy or just kind of weird in general...but it was just so funny. Also, this film is definitely not a chick flick, my boyfriend has approved it, HAHA!

Before watching this movie, I looked up the rating on rotten tomatoes and it actually had one of those certified fresh tomatoes, and I thought to myself, oh okay. I also checked the rating for Southpaw because I was also interested in seeing that and it got a splatter tomato! Talk about being surprised! My boyfriend and I obviously ended up seeing Trainwreck and I couldn't be happier with the results!

Any who, here's the little summary from IMDb: She's just a girl who didn't think she could ever do monogamy and frankly, she was afraid of commitment. Of course, a good guy comes along and she has to face her fears. BOOM. Typical rom-com formula applied here - but, it actually worked.

My rating: 8.5/10!

This film definitely was just A+ material. It was really funny and witty. When a film has a cast full of comedians, it could be either a hit or a miss. Sometimes the comedians try wayyyyy to hard to make something so insignificant seem massively funny...but this team of comedians made it work perfectly! To my surprise, Lebron James was actually pretty hilarious as well! On a comedy scale, it definitely worked for me. I was also kind of afraid about what would happen since Amy doesn't fit the ideal body mold of a rom-com actress, which I will talk about in the next section. I had no idea what was in store for me when I walked into the theater, but I am so happy that I saw this film. 

Also, I gave this film an 8.5 because it just seemed so realistic. I mean given some of the story doesn't seem like it would be reasonable but I think that Amy Schumer's character was just an accurate portrayal of a typical woman. She wasn't this perfect woman who was 100% clean, athletic, reserved, etc. I felt that she completely broke the standard of what a rom-com woman is. This is all completely my opinion and I cannot express the amount of respect I have for Amy Schumer. I personally couldn't have shown my body on screen for millions to see, but she did it and she did it flawlessly.

I usually talk about two aspects of the film at this point but I seriously just want to focus on the acting particularly by Amy Schumer.

As most of you know, I'm not a particularly stick skinny person. I am a woman with a little extra to love. I find that I can never really relate to characters in Rom-Coms because none of them are ever really like me. The women are always obviously skinny/toned/etc. they are always portrayed as perfect in an obvious/non-obvious way. It is hard to find a woman who exceeds the ideal perfection weight play someone with confidence. There is always a bigger woman who is trying to make her self better AKA thinner or she has just about as much self esteem as a freaking rock (none).

I found comfort in Amy Schumer's performance. She's not a stick thin model and yet, her character was just as confident as one. There was no doubt during the film that the men were actually after her. There were no comments in the film like "I can't believe he is going after a girl like that" blah blah blah. Her weight is what it is and people accepted it. The only time it was ever questioned was by me, the watcher. How sad is it that I looked onto the screen and the first things I thought were, "why is the guy falling for her?," "am I as big as her?," and "What do people think when they see me?" I have been trained by other romantic comedies to think that women like her can't possibly find love because she doesn't fit the exact beauty standards. 

I am ashamed of myself for thinking these things but I can't deny the fact that it happened. I hope that this film is the first of many to break the traditional beauty mold that has been set by society because I feel as if there is a film sickness in me. I have seen so many films in my lifetime and a part of me wishes my life could be like the films or that I could be as beautiful as the actresses on screen. I always end up leaving a romantic comedy feeling like things on the screen won't happen to me because I don't look like the lead actress or magical/romantic things only happen to you if you're thin. Needless to say, by the end of the film I felt so much better about myself, about my relationship, about everything...because a woman like Amy Schumer was cast in a wonderful role and none of it was questioned. I looked on that screen and I felt a sense of inspiration - I felt that all of those cute things could happen to me, I felt that I shouldn't be ashamed of my body. I can only hope that one day I could feel that way about myself, that I could be as confident about my body as she was during this film. Her performance seemed 100% genuine. I didn't doubt her at all during this film. She made the film what it was through her acting and the writing. 

I would like to applaud and thank Amy Schumer for breaking the typical rom-com standard and breaking the ideals set by society. 

I am not in any way trying to bash thin women/actresses or people who are trying to get thinner (because that's what I'm doing). I just think that since women come in all shapes in sizes that it should be portrayed in the media just as much as a thin woman would be. I think this film does a great example of showing that all women - regardless of shape/size - should feel confident or beautiful. I just think that it's time for more than just one body type to be on screen and to be adored. I think it's time for society to praise women of all body types. 

Would I see this movie again? Yes, I definitely would. 

I would recommend everyone to see this film, it was funny, romantic, sad (yeah, I almost cried), and to me, it was a feel-good movie.