Trainwreck (2015)

"Trainwreck" (2015 release; 124 min.) opens with 2 young girls being told by their dad that he and their mom are divorcing, and that "monogamy isn't realistic"", which the girls repeat after him "monogamy isn't realistic!". We are then told that it's "23 Years Later", and we get to know Amy (played by May Schumer), a who is in her early thirties, with a great job at S'NUFF magazine, a hulk of a boy friend, and a series of one-night stands. Then one day, Amy gets an assignment to write an article about celebrity sports doctor Aaron Conners (played by Bill Hader). To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: the movie no only stars Amy Schumer, she also wrote the script, and one can only assume that the Amy character is loosely based on Amy the real life person. The director is Judd Apatow, who brought us most recently "This Is 40" and before that "Funny People" and "Knocked Up", among others. But let's not kid ourselves: this is the Amy Schumer show all the way. The movie is not shy on sex and sex-related jokes and double entendres, so if that is something that might bother you, by all means, stay away from this. Amy has plenty of zingers in her script, in fact at times they come so fast and furious, I'm sure I didn't catch all of them. Yes, this is a comedy, but the second hour of the film shows plenty of more serious and wistful undercurrents. Amy is surrounded by some great talent. Bill Hader does okay as the romantic interest. But the performances that really catch the eye are first and foremost Tilda Swinton as Amy's boss/editor at S'NUFF (looking almost unrecognizable) and of course also LeBron James as himself, playing it straight up, with hilarious results. There are a TON of cameos, the best of the bunch being Chris Evert and Marc Albert towards the end of the film. There is plenty of song placements in the film, including Billy Joel (Uptown Girl; Matter of Trust), Miley Cyrus (Do My Thang), Bombadil (Amy's Friend), and many more. Bottom line: this is a raunchy with some serious undercurrents, featuring Amy Schumer at the top of her game.

The movie is now in its second weekend at the box office, and the early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was very nicely attended, somewhat to my surprise, to be honest. But it shows that there is a target audience for a Hollywood movie that is clearly not for everyone. If you are in the mood for a brassy sex comedy with some great acting performances, you cannot go wrong with this. "Trainwreck" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!