Bridget Jones' Diaphragm

Movies: Trainwreck

Judd Apatow is the director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is 40, and, most recently, the Amy Schumer-penned comedy Trainwreck. If you've seen Apatow's movies (including the ones he's written and produced), you may have noticed that they tend to have a vein of conservatism and traditional values running through them. Mostly, this works--for example, The 40-Year-Old Virgin had the perfect mixture of vulgar humor and sweet romance. Sometimes, however, I give his movies the ol' side-eye. In Knocked Up, a film about a pregnancy resulting from a one-night stand, those who recommend abortion as a solution are presented as cruel and shallow. (If you think that abortion would be a terrible element to add to a romantic comedy, please see the wonderful Obvious Child).

Likewise, Trainwreck has some oddly conservative moments. But luckily, with Amy Schumer's script, the film finds that sweet spot of edgy and vulnerable humor.

There is no comedian who I feel captures my view of the world quite like Amy Schumer. Her humor is extremely sexual, but in a clever way. She's self-deprecating, but with a wink that lets us know she actually likes herself (I think. I hope.) She's a feminist, but a flawed one. She's gotten some shit for her early years working her way up through the male-dominated world of comedy by being "one of the guys". She's also gotten shit for the occasional racist joke in her repertoire. But faced with that criticism, she's responded not by becoming defensive or by doubling-down on the troubling jokes, but by evolving into more sly and knowing humor.

The point is, I fucking love Amy Schumer. And Trainwreck is a great showcase for her gifts.

Trainwreck is strongly autobiographical. Schumer plays Amy, with a sister named Kim, and a father who suffers from Multiple sclerosis whom she loves deeply. The real life Schumer also has a sister named Kim and a father who had MS. Unlike many other romantic sex comedies, family figures largely into Trainwreck, and not in an annoying "rapping granny" kind of way, but in a relatable, realistic way. One of the main subplots involves Amy and Kim arguing about moving their dad to a cheaper nursing home. Amy may sleep around, get blackout drunk, and smoke pot to escape anxiety, but she's a deeply caring daughter.

The main plot is, of course, about a commitment-phobic, 30-something woman who has to re-evaluate her life choices and beliefs about monogamy when she meets a really great guy, Aaron Conners (Bill Hader, fucking wonderful and perfect here). Amy works at "Snuff" magazine, a men's mag that runs articles about how semen tastes if a guy eats a lot of garlic and how to score a threesome. Amy's boss (played by an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton, with a tan and long hair!) is a devil wears Prada type ice queen who assigns Amy to interview Conners, a sports doctor to the stars. As Aaron and Amy get to know each other, it's clear that they're a great match. But with Amy's skepticism of commitment and serious fear of being rejected, she is constantly waiting for the ball to drop, which messes with their relationship.

There is a whiff of wish fulfillment here: a perfect guy--he's got money, a fabulous job, he's mature, he's terribly kind and understanding--being totally committed to an immature, emotionally messy, kind of mean woman. But at the same time, haven't we seen a ton of movies where some pot-smoking  man-boy gets the hot, perfect chick? (see Knocked Up). If we're willing to believe that kind of match can work out, we need to believe in this match, with the genders reversed. Well, we don't need to, but it's only fair to to give it equal weight. Some people get mad when "feminism" includes letting women be fucked up and vulgar. But I say fuck that! Feminism IS about not expecting perfection from women. And if you think women are morally better than men, well fuck you. They aren't.

Can you tell I'm a bit defensive of Trainwreck? Bitch Magazine ran some online articles criticizing Trainwreck for its casually racist jokes, and, indeed, there are some real clunkers in there (such as when Vanessa Bayer, Amy's work friend, tells a sexy, black, male nurse that she "dated a black guy in high school...and would do it again"). But when they criticized Amy's SPOILER ALERT --

tearful eulogy at her dad's funeral, where she admits that he was a racist, heavy-drinker asshole, as well as a loving father and hilarious friend. Well, Bitch can go fuck itself*. That's literally what every person who has ever lived is: a mix of good and bad traits. I think that scene was deeply emotional, for Amy Schumer as well as the audience. To have the guts to stand up and tell the world that your dead parent wasn't close to perfect, but you loved them anyway. It's beautiful.

/end spoiler

This is why I loved Trainwreck so much. It wasn't 100% raunchy sex comedy (although there is plenty of that, and I loved it). It also is about some real shit.

If you are not watching Amy Schumer's TV show, Inside Amy Schumer, then go seek it out immediately. Not only is it hilarious, it--like Trainwreck--is about real life shit. It's feminist without being a Buzz Killington. It's raunchy without being dumb. Schumer is clever, subversive, and relatable. And she makes the world a slightly better place to live.

Grade: A-

* Bitch is actually an excellent magazine/website that exists specifically to examine pop culture through a feminist lens and offer criticism. I don't always agree with their articles, but I read it religiously and promote it 100%.

Ghosts of the Past

Movies: The Gift

When I first saw a preview for The Gift, I thought "Man, that looks like a piece of shit." Well, 93% on Rotten Tomatoes later, here I am eating my words.

The Gift is the directorial debut of chameleon-like actor Joel Edgerton, and it proves to be a taut and twisty thriller. It has some flaws, which I will go into detail about at the bottom of this entry in a spoiler area. If you want to go into the film knowing nothing (which I recommend), rest assured that it's quality entertainment. It's not exactly The Godfather, but it's a really fun movie.

The film stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as a married couple who move from Chicago to California (where Bateman's character, Simon, grew up) and get one of those mid-century homes that has a lot of giant windows and glass. Well, you can tell right away that living in a fucking glass house won't lead to anything good. Simon works at some kind of fancy technology company and makes a boatload of money. His wife, Robyn, is an interior designer who works from home and tries to maintain a stress-free lifestyle since she and Simon want to conceive and it becomes clear they had trouble doing so in Chicago.

At a home goods store, the couple runs into Gordon ("Gordo") Moseley (played by Edgerton), who knew Simon in high school. Simon doesn't recognize him at first, but then remembers him and some pleasantries are exchanged and a promise to get together for dinner is made. If Gordo was a normal person, he would probably never follow up and Simon and Robyn would never see the dude again. But Gordo's a bit of a socially-awkward weirdo (his high school nickname was the rather uncreative "Gordo the Weirdo") and he starts sending the couple very nice gifts and showing up at the house while Simon's at work. Robyn eventually invites him to dinner, where Gordo talks about how the bad things in life can be a gift and won't shut up about his and Simon's high school and the people they knew there. Simon is, unsurprisingly, weirded out. Especially when Gordo continues to contact the couple.

Well, because this is a psychological thriller, you know from the get-go that there's more to the story about Simon and Gordo's high school years. I'll reveal more info below, after a spoiler warning. But one thing I want to mention is that Rebecca Hall's character really gets to shine in the second half of the film when she starts exploring what's really going on with her husband and this Gordo character. The Gift easily shifts from Single White Female to Rosemary's Baby when Robyn starts doubting what Simon tells her about Gordo.

Spoilers below








It's probably no surprise, but Simon was a bully in high school who made up a rumor about Gordo that literally destroyed Gordo's life. Because of the rumor, Gordon was bullied, beat up, pulled out of his high school, and suffered violent wrath from his father. He went on to join the military, only to be discharged, and generally became a fuck up in his adult life.

What's great is how perfectly Jason Bateman plays this role. For the first half of the movie, you're 100% on his side, even when he makes fun of Gordo to his wife. When he confronts Gordo and essentially "breaks up" with him, you think "Yeah, this Simon guy is a strong, forthright man. He's mature. He's an adult." But when Robyn learns about his past and confronts him, he believably morphs right back into a bully: treating her like a child who needs to mind her own business, being completely unrepentant in his torment of Gordo, etc. Bateman plays an asshole so well!

The biggest flaw in this film is the big twist at the end (of course there's a big twist at the end). Not only is it over the top and melodramatic, it also effectively disempowers Robyn, turning her into a plot device to further the story of the two men--Gordo and Simon. Up until the very end, The Gift is a quality thriller that plays with the idea of right and wrong really well. But the end, and Simon's comeuppance, turns the film into a slightly ridiculous Greek tragedy.

End spoilers

Despite its flaws, The Gift is a very entertaining film. Probably nothing you'll watch twice, but a fun night at the movies. All the main actors, particularly Jason Bateman, do a wonderful job of creating and then upending audience expectations.

Grade: B+