‘I Feel Pretty’ rewrites confidence rules

The romantic comedy I Feel Pretty strives to be a modern fairy tale about an insecure woman realizing her worth, though it’s the movie itself that suffers from a crisis of confidence.

Amy Schumer stars as a New Yorker whose crippling self-esteem issues get cleared up courtesy of head trauma in the directorial debut of Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, the screenwriting team behind Never Been Kissed. I Feel

Pretty (★★g☆; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Friday) offers aspirational touches that match the “Get it, girl” shirt sported by Schumer’s character, but the mostly feel-good cinematic parable often has trouble finding the right balance between goofball humor and earnest message.

Renee (Schumer) works on the unglamorous digital side of high-profile Manhattan cosmetics giant Lily LeClaire. Her dream is to get out of her Chinatown basement desk job and become a receptionist at the Fifth Avenue headquarters, a position reserved for an “undeniably pretty” kind of girl. Her mood spirals downward with bodyshaming and general gym malaise when surrounded by toned physiques, leading to a desperate late-night wish to be beautiful while watching Big.

From there, it’s a Hallucinderella story: Her next SoulCycle class ends with a nasty fall and when she wakes up, she checks the mirror and sees a hottie. Although nobody else notices a difference in her looks, Renee does, leading to a super-positive attitude that both befuddles and impresses love interest Ethan (Rory Scovel), her boss Avery LeClaire (Michelle Williams) and eligible bachelor Grant LeClaire (Tom Hopper).

Schumer doesn’t reach quite the highs of her Trainwreck work — that movie perfectly nailed a happy medium between comedy and drama, while

Pretty leans dour early on until Renee has her epic spin-cycle fail. But everything, from narrative momentum to Schumer’s performance, picks up: There’s a satisfaction watching supermodel types squirm when they can’t derail Renee’s cheery blind confidence, and her courtship with Ethan is a riot of mixed messages and bikini contests.

The movie tweaks the fantastical nature of such films as Shallow Hal and 13

Going on 30, though this sort of message-y transformation feels out of place in the current climate of female empowerment and body positivity.

Some choices are head-scratching. One rousing empowerment speech about loving who you are veers perilously close to pandering, and Busy Philipps and Aidy Bryant are underused as Renee’s girlfriends. But the movie is a reminder that Lauren Hutton, in a small role , is still the epitome of cool.

Hutton’s history, as a model helped and not hindered by the gap in her teeth, complements Pretty‘s theme of owning one’s individual beauty.

MARK SCHAFER/STX FILMS Ethan (Rory Scovel) is impressed by the newfound confidence in Renee (Amy Schumer) in “I Feel Pretty.”