An On Demand viewing on November 27th in Chicago. A Summer rom/com released that got an 85% Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $110 million at the box office. Directed by Judd Apatow and starring Amy Schumer (who also wrote the film) and Bill Hader in the leads. There's also a bevy of comics (Colin Quinn) and cameos (John Cena and LeBron James) that round out the cast.
Amy Schumer plays "Amy," a hard drinking, weed smoking, journalist with a penchant for no strings attached sex. Which basically means that she sleeps with whomever she wants and never has any repercussions. Amy is a journalist and has a great apartment as every single woman in NYC has. While on assignment, she starts to date the subject of her article Dr. Aaron Connors (Hader). Connors is a work-aholic sports surgeon who naturally falls in love with Amy because she's unconventional or something. The issue with Amy is that she's a commit-a-phobe despite the fact that she really likes Dr. Connors. It's obvious that they like each other but can't stay together and then Amy performs a ridiculous grand gesture that gets them back together. Ta Da!
This is a formulaic rom/com with some laugh out loud scenes. John Cena and LeBron steal the show in their roles. Cena is Amy's workout addicted boyfriend and his scene where she asks him to talk dirty to her while in bed was hilarious. LeBron plays himself and he's quite good going up against comedic talents of Hader and Schumer.
What makes this a decent film is that it's rated R. There are several laugh out loud moments in this film that would not be as good if it was PG. The film clocks in at over 120 minutes and no rom/com should ever be more than 100 minutes. The film was a minimum of 20 minutes too long with scenes that didn't need to be in the picture. Then there's the fact that Amy is a free thinking woman who lives her life the way she wants to but in the end needs a man to "save" her from herself. There's also the standard "dudes shooting baskets" rom/com trope, the only thing that makes it funny is that it's Hader playing 1 on 1 with LeBron. Of course the play in an empty gym in NYC. If LeBron James is shooting baskets in a gym in NYC, there's people there. Colin Quinn is solid as Amy's foul mouthed father who basically teaches her that monogamy is bad in the opening scene of the film. There's several ridiculous scenes in this film that have no basis in reality but that's expected in an NYC based film.
This was a good but not great film. Apatow sticks to the rom/com formula but it runs too long. Schumer was good as the foul mouthed lead, Hader was a good lead and there's chemistry between the two but their relationship is unrealistic. I do not believe that a big time sports surgeon has the kind of free time that Dr. Connors has in this film. The film is a lot of laughs and worth watching but it's not breaking any new ground.
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