TRAINWRECK by Judd Apatow

AMY SCHUMER's one woman show TRAINWRECK catches a tired old Hollywood take on the conventional romantic comedy genre with its fresh "female gaze"

There has never been a better time for the release of a film like TRAINWRECK, which has rightfully been met with excitement and appraisal. HOLLYWOOD's undeniable predominantly masculine viewpoint is knocked right out of the ball park in a film that places a female character as a drinking, sexual predator who rolls her eyes at the prospect of a life as a married housewife. 
 
AMY SCHUMER has been a paladin of the female standup comedy world for quite sometime, and her candid monologues about love and sex have been acclaimed for their feminist gaze and celebration of female independence. Such things are true of TRAINWRECK, which marks her cinematic debut in a vehicle she wrote all for herself. 
 
Here, she plays a woman who works as a writer at a dull-brained magazine, with a hulk of a boyfriend and constant one night stands. A brief introdiction reveals her father's disbelief in monogamy had something to do with it, and while her sister resented her father's ways opting instead to become a pretty little housewife, she drinks and sleeps around and has no desire to be play demsel in distress to a knight in shining armour. Nevertheless, one day she is assigned a piece on a celebrity sports doctor, a nerdy and yet charming sort played by BILL HADER, the exact opposite male archetype she is used to going out with. Eventually, the two get close, and this sudden romance might be the one to change her ways forever.

The film is directed by JUDD APATOW, who still delivers in timely fashion the most interesting and laugh out loud comedies in American cinema, and is regarded as having influenced the tone of such productions for over a decade. Much like his previous works, even this film which he did not write shows the trend of awful endings which we will not spoil, but that clearly trample upon many of the most groundbreaking elements on the film, beginning with its driving feminist undertones. Let's nevetheless focus on the positives. 

TRAINWRECK is a film that plays topsy turvy on a genre dominated by male archetypes, and this is enough to make the otherwise unimpressive and unoriginal story seem fresh and new. However, this is Schumer's show, and her well shaped comedy personality appears to be well defined in decadent glory. She's quite comfortable in the role, and her line delivery as well as her physicality and overall presence enhances the creativity of the jokes and gags that offer candid gazes upon themes of love and sex with a disarming honesty. Yet, it is all well balanced and entertaining, and despite the sorry ending, there are virtually no dead moments throughout the entire duration. 

Furthermore, the character of AMY is equally as defined by her own vulnerabilities and insecurities as it is by her general more outrageous lifestyle. She is a fully formed character, three dimensional character - the strange thing is that such female representation still can't help but seem unusual in 2015. 

The general feeling is that even with its imperfections, TRAINWRECK might inspire some much needed change in mainstream film production. The risk is that this film's vibes might be treated as a flavour of the month more than the start of a new wave in American comedy, and we'll be back to SEX IN THE CITY stuff in no time.