I Feel Pretty (2018) - God bless Amy Schumer

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Comedy of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year

Amy Schumer looking great but more importantly looking as if she feels like a million bucks fills out the poster for Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein's I Feel Pretty

Renee is a young woman in New York, who works on the online side of a major, upscale cosmetics company and struggles with low self-confidence. When she hits her head in a spinning class accident, the result is a booming self-confidence, as Renee is certain that her looks have suddenly drastically improved.

I Feel Pretty is the feature directing debut for writer-directors Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (Never Been Kissed (1999)), who have been writing partners for over 20 years. The film is a high concept comedy (think Freaky Friday (2003), Shallow Hal (2001), Trading Places (1983) or Big (1988), the latter of which is actually used actively in two very funny scenes in the film), which seems like it could have come from a typical joke from the film's propellant star Amy Schumer (Snatched (2017)).
But whereas Schumer's on-stage act would have made crude payoffs off of the 'fat girl in the spinning class' accident', the filmmakers wisely create sympathetic characters with issues that ring true here, present them with sincerity and never ridicule. I Feel Pretty feels like the perfect film for Schumer, who is terrific, and whose character's body insecurity reflects feelings and problems that so many will identify with the world over. There is a sorry irony in the fact that Schumer's wildly hyped first film Trainwreck (2015) was cruder and less meaningful but a bigger hit, while I Feel Pretty is a more buoyant, rounded and resounding film - but also a much more criticized and less commercially successful one.
Renee builds a romantic relationship with Rory Scovel (Good at Life (2015), TV movie), who also feels very real as Ethan, who does zumba and has his own self-image insecurity. Renee leaves her crummy office existence with funny co-worker Adrian Martinez (Focus (2015)) to rule the company's reception with a surplus of positive energy that baffles its privileged, attractive CEO Michelle Williams (A Hole in One (2004)) and brother Tom Hopper (Leopard (2013)). In her free time, Renee also injects a new vivacity into her group of friends played by the very affable pair, Aidy Bryant (The Big Sick (2017)) and Busy Philipps (Vice Principals (2016-17)).
I Feel Pretty is a great time out whether you go by yourself or with friends, it is a real crowd-pleaser; it has many infectious laughs and an uplifting message of self-appreciation and a wider understanding of what can be pretty and attractive, which it hits home with a wealth of 
charm. Don't miss it.

Related posts:

2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch Schumer present the film and a trailer for it on Ellen here in this video

Cost: 32 mil. $
Box office: 88.4 mil. $ and counting
= Box office success (2.76 times the cost)
[I Feel Pretty premiered 19 April (Australia, Israel, Lebanon, Singapore) and runs 110 minutes. STX Entertainment bought the North-American distribution rights at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival for 15 mil. $. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits A Quiet Place and Rampage, for a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4) and grossed 48.7 mil. $ (55.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.1 mil. $ (8 %) and Australia with 6.8 mil. $ (7.7 %). The film gets no French release, as the French rights have been sold to Netflix, who debuted it on their streaming platform there on 20 July. It has one market left to open in: Italy on 22 August. Kohn/Silverstein do not have an announced next project yet. Schumer is set to star with Steve Carell and Nicole Kidman in Rebecca Miller's upcoming She Came to Me, which has no production or release dates out yet. I Feel Pretty is rotten at 34 % with a 5.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Feel Pretty?

Trainwreck (2015) - Amy Schumer's breakthrough is a lot of fun

♥♥♥♥

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader want your attention on the poster for Judd Apatow's Trainwreck

If you haven't heard of Trainwreck by now, you can be certain that you're not an in person. You don't know what's going on today; you're not hip, you're not riding the hip-train. Because the hip city folk of today have heard of or seen Trainwreck already.

Amy is a New Yorker single woman, who works on a trashy gossip magazine and has so far been following her father's advice of mistrusting monogamy. But as she now meets and falls for a grounded sports doctor, she begins to reevaluate her life choices.

Trainwreck is written by its star Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer (2013-15)) and directed by master filmmaker Judd Apatow (Knocked Up (2007)), and in a way it's the story of a Carrie Bradshaw-like woman (of Sex and the City (1998-04) fame), without the alleviating friends, and told in a different humorous tone.
Some of the critics and pundits who seem to bellow out 'gender revolution' across the plains at the arrival of Trainwreck may have forgotten this show and a long list of other woman-lead comedies before it. That being said, Trainwreck does turn some relationship dynamics on their head, - compared to their traditional depiction, - and that is part of the film's attraction for sure.
Trainwreck is a raunch comedy and a romcom. - I think it pushes its raunch label too squarely for its first about 45 minutes (of 124); Schumer and co-stars squeeze a 'fuck' and a 'tits' in whereever possible, and it stretches some of the realism a bit, (and doesn't always result in laughter or amusement.)
But Trainwreck is still a lot of fun and an event comedy that should be seen now, as it's in its full, fresh bloom.

The details:

Schumer jumps into the major spotlight in a rare way here, and even if you hold reservations towards her going in, they will most likely come down in the course of the film. As Trainwreck came to a close in the cinema where I saw it, SPOILER audiences certainly held no laughter back as Schumer presented her cheerleader/basketball abilities. - The scene is a heart-stealer.
Trainwreck is bolstered by Bill Hader (Inside Out (2015)) as Schumer's likable new boyfriend. Other funny actors include surprisingly strong supporting performances from John Cena (12 Rounds (2009)), who puts himself out there in a part that both includes nudity and implicit homosexuality. LeBron James (Entourage (2009) TV-series) is also a lot of fun here in his big screen debut. Tilda Swinton (Broken Flowers (2005)) is more mean and sociopathic than fun. She is rejoined with Film Excess favorite Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)), who has a memorable, sexy and strange scene towards the end.
Trainwreck is Apatow's 5th big screen movie to date, and though I really like it, I still like his four other movies more.

Related reviews:

2011 in films - according to Film Excess 
Judd Apatow: Bridesmaids (2011) - Subversive comedy with laughs a-plenty (producer)
The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005) or, Let the Sunshine In
The Cable Guy (1996) - Stiller's dark comedy is a riot (producer)

 Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 137.7 mil. $ and counting
= Big hit
[Trainwreck was filmed in May-August 2014 in New York and on Long Island. It premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival and opened to stellar reviews and a 30 mil. $ opening weekend, Apatow's second-best to date, behind Knocked Up with 30.6 mil. $. It has grossed 108.7 mil. $ in North America to date, the large majority of its gross. Schumer has established herself in America, but the surrounding world is still hesitant, (or just slow.) Trainwreck is 85 % certified fresh with a 7.2 average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Trainwreck?