If you’ve been lucky enough to live outside of the socially crippling underbelly of a rock during 2015, then you know as well as anyone the Amy Schumer is on the fast track to becoming the Michelle Obama of stand up, sketch, and feature comedy. Starting from a humble beginning by placing fourth in the fifth season of Last Comic Standing; Schumer has quickly risen to being the star of her own Comedy Central sketch series (Inside Amy Schumer) since 2013, and she’s proven herself as a goliath talent through numerous stand-up comedy performances including the hilariously successful Back Door Tour. With 2015, Schumer is continuing her ascent by starring in and writing her first feature film Trainwreck directed by Judd Aptow. In the film, Schumer plays an uninhibited and successful magazine columnist that has become committed to the notion purported by her father that “monogamy isn’t realistic."
Her comedic talent and popularity has certainly taken America by storm alongside her prevailing reputation to upholding what Wikipedia calls “subversive feminism.” However, this reputation works as a double-edged sword for Schumer in the box office. It’s undeniable that she is fortifying allegiances from female and progressive male audiences by claiming her principles on stage and screen. Yet, her reputation has also threatened to alienate the prototypical sludge-brained-bro-type audiences that populate a huge percentage of Judd Aptow’s typical target demographic.
Unfortunately, the obvious talent but underwhelming bro-points of supporting male lead Bill Hader wasn’t promising to counterbalance this potential hole in the male demographic. Luckily, this hole was cleverly filled by NBA super star and the all-around male icon LeBron James.
The overwhelming popularity of LeBron James supersedes both Aptow and Schumer in terms of notoriety, but for this debut silver screen appearance many critics were watching as attentively as a Cavalier fan during kick off (don’t worry, no prior basketball knowledge is necessary to enjoy this film).
Grossing $30.2 million for the opening weekend, Trainwreck is coming in as a close second to Aptow’s personal best Knocked Up (2007), which scored $30.7 million in the opening weekend. This film can attribute most of its financial success to Aptow and Schumer’s widespread popularity in Los Angeles and New York where a huge bulk of the grossing was collected. However shockingly, the financial swell from Cleveland, home of the Cavaliers whom James practically carried through the 2015 NBA Championship Finals, was a staggering 66% higher than studios predicted. Even select cities in Florida, where James lead the Heats to win back-to-back championships, noticed a completely tangible upsurge in ticket sales for the movie.
Be warned, this four-time MVP is much more than a cheesy marketing cameo that cracks jokes about Downton Abbey and the strange obsession the state of Ohio holds for him. James proves to be an undeniable talent by portraying himself on screen as Hader’s famous best friend and sympathetic ear. The performance is so unexpectedly good that the Atlantics' Christopher Orr calls him, "the cleverest counter-self-portrait since Michael Cera's coke-addled sex fiend in This is the End.” Hopefully, this will make up for his crushing championship loss to the Warriors.
Trainwreck officially hit theaters on July 17th and it has proven to be a brilliantly untraditional romantic-comedy by Schumer and Aptow that is absolutely worth seeing.
