Tyler Reviews "Trainwreck"

Trainwreck: 3/10

On Saturday night Rosalyn and I watched "Trainwreck". It is written by Amy Schumer, who also stars as the female lead.

I wouldn't quite call it dismal, but it wasn't very good.

Schumer plays Amy, a 20-something woman whose inability to have a healthy relationship is traced to her philandering father. She exploits and abuses most of the men she encounters, up to and including the film's principal love interest - a sports doctor named Aaron, played by Bill Hader.

The film's crass approach to presenting her relationships makes it hard to have much empathy for her. Her sexuality is wielded like a cudgel, slammed into the viewer's face so hard it's difficult to find another facet to her character.

Hader's character is relegated to the role of an emotional punching bag, relentless in his inexplicable love for Amy as she slowly tries to sort her life out.

Trainwreck's sole step towards vindication is in its clever use of big-name cameos. Lebron James and John Cena provide laughs through unexpected emotional compassion and insight, and a familiar face from Harry Potter supplied my loudest laughs of the evening.

Amy faces a variety of life changes through the film: her father's move into a retirement home, her sister's budding family, and a stressful but potentially promising writing career. All of these serve to construct a compelling picture of a woman wrestled into adulthood against her will. Unfortunately, the film's resolution left me feeling like the bulk of her struggles were far from resolved; most had barely even been addressed.