Movie: Trainwreck

Trainwreck:  Amy Schumer’s lifestyle comedy.  A very clever opening scene lays the foundation for the film’s storyline, which begins with two pre-teenage girls being told by their father (Colin Quinn) why he and their mother are separating.  The issue is marital fidelity and the explanation given for the lack thereof is worth the movie admission price.   Amy takes her father’s sermon to heart and is living her life accordingly.  Her sister, Kim (Brie Larson), is living a happily married life.  The interplay between the sisters is weak.  Amy works as a writer at a magazine that is an over the top male version of Cosmopolitan named S’Nuff, specializing in comical sex story headlines.  I did not like the magazine editor character played by Tilda Swinton.  Amy is assigned to write a story involving a celebrity sports surgeon named Aaron.  If you liked Bill Hader on “Saturday Night”, you will be good with his performance in Trainwreck.  Aaron’s clients include LeBron James and Amar’e Stoudemire.  The film’s energy level increased with every appearance by James - this man could have a second career.  Having James show concern about his money was a nice touch.  The interaction between Aaron and James was solid and, personally, I would have been happy with more scenes involving these two.  The short scene that included sports broadcaster Herb Albert was funny.   Both Schumer and Hader know how to deliver their comedic lines, and there are quite a few.  Unfortunately, I never felt any real chemistry between the would be lovers, Amy and Aaron.  This 124 minute film is definitely funny.  Amy Schumer’s script provides many laugh lines.  It is long on sex jokes, which is no surprise if you have seen any of Amy’s work.  A real weak spot were the handful of race jokes that sounded like 70’s comedy; Amy should stick with her sex jokes.  The movie was directed by Judd Apatow, who may be the best current director of comedic films.