Move over McCarthy. Step aside Fey and Wiig. There’s a newly crowned queen of comedy and her name is Schumer, Amy Schumer. If you haven’t heard of her it’s probably because you live under a rock, in a bible belt or possess even a modicum of decency. Amy’s the fun-loving blonde with the hit TV show and a mouth that will make you blush. Her sketches have no doubt flooded your inbox and Facebook feed, or perhaps her talk show appearances that leave the host is stitches while desperately mouthing, “Can she say that on air?” to an off-camera producer.
After three successful seasons on the small screen, Amy has penned a feature film script so good it lured comedy writer/director/producer extraordinaire Judd Apatow to direct something he hasn’t written - for the first time ever - and it’s called ‘Trainwreck’.
From a young age, Amy and her younger sister Kim have had instilled in them by their philandering father (Colin Quinn) that monogamy isn’t realistic. As a result, Amy has used this as an excuse for her adult life, never truly committing to a relationship and flitting from one night stand to one night stand with only a bogus list of rules to keep her on the path to loneliness. Now in her early thirties, Amy is a journalist for a men's magazine and assigned an article to profile sports physician to the stars Aaron Conners (Bill Hader). Aaron and Amy hit it off, and when her drinking, partying, promiscuous ways are turned on their head, she's left to wondering if she’s had it wrong this whole time.
Perhaps not as good as promised, the story certainly looses its footing in the third act, but Schumer is still a sight to behold and a breath of cinematic fresh air. Yet as powerful a female voice as she is, on screen Amy is almost outplayed by the film's cameos courtesy of WWE wrestler John Cena, Amar’e Stoudemire and Mr Basketball himself LeBron James (playing "himself").
The story certainly looses its footing in the third act, but Schumer is still a sight to behold and a breath of cinematic fresh air.
Now, my love for Bill Hader knows no bounds. He’s a talented man, he’s a funny man, he’s a cute man, but a leading man he is not. I realise they cast him to make him "believable" as a romantic partner next to Amy, but that idea is offensive to both Bill and Amy. Bill can steal a scene better than anyone, but playing a sweet-hearted regular Joe with little to no wiggle room and then getting your arse comedically bitch-slapped by LeBron freakin James... you know there’s an issue there. Nevertheless, Amy is a potty-mouthed genius and her words ring loud, hilarious and true coming out of anyone’s mouth.
‘Trainwreck’ is a good time - a very good time - with a cringe here, a beverage spray from the nose there and even a heartstring pulled from time to time... hell, I even shed a tear. So if you haven’t heard of Amy Schumer yet, trust me when I'd say it will be hard to forget her name after this one.