Trainwreck hardly reinvents the rom-com
Amy Schumer’s latest film is funny, but much of it seems awfully familiar
Trainwreck is an often hilarious movie starring a very hilarious woman. But is it really the convention-busting, genre-reinventing achievement it’s being hailed as? Our investigation suggests . . . not so much.
Rom-com trope No. 1 Stylish female protagonist works at a fashion publication and puts career before love. Source material: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
As an ambitious, fashion-forward writer at S’nuff magazine, Amy Schumer’s character (also Amy) is Kate Hudson’s character Andie with a slightly more decorated bedpost. Both reluctantly accept assignments to write about a man whom they are totally not interested in . . . until wait! Also, both movies feature a hapless red-headed co-worker and a bloodsucking editor à la Anna Wintour. See also: The Devil Wears Prada, 13 Going on 30, Confessions of a Shopaholic
Rom-com trope No. 2 Self-destructive woman would rather chase jerks than recognize the great (if slightly nerdish) guy in front of her. Source material: Bridget Jones’s Diary
Trade Colin Firth’s Christmas sweater for Dr. Aaron’s (Bill Hader’s) hospital scrubs and we’re looking at a very similar setup here, where flawed female is suspicious of the guy who likes her just as she is. Beyond this charming cocktail of insecurity and alcoholism, Bridget and Amy share a passion for smoking and almost invisible skirts. See also: Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Holiday
Rom-com trope No. 3 All women (even the fiercely independent ones) secretly want the white picket fence. Source material: Almost all of ’em
Amy can’t stop slagging her younger sister Kim for her totally not cool family setup (a sweater-vest of a husband and a supremely dorky stepson). But turns out she’s only harsh because, deep down, it’s the life she wants.
This is not so much an imitation of any movie as it is the value system that informs the entire genre. Warm and fuzzy, fine, but the message is a bit of a letdown coming from the brain behind defiantly subversive skits like “Last F---able Day,” “Football Town Nights” and “Girl, You
Don’t Need Makeup.” See also: 27 Dresses, Along Came Polly, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Proposal, Knocked Up
Rom-com trope No. 4 Dudes discuss matters of the heart while playing sports. Source material: When Harry Met Sally
Since talking about your feelings is, like, a totally unmanly thing to do, guys in rom-coms tend to have these delicate convos while playing some type of sport.
In Trainwreck, Dr. Aaron shares his relationship woes while getting whupped on the basketball court by LeBron James. Billy Crystal and his best bro (played by Bruno Kirby) have a very similar exchange at the batting cage in When Harry Met Sally. See also: Splash (squash), Knocked Up (ping pong), Failure to Launch (surfing), Along Came Polly (basketball)
Rom-com trope No. 5 The grand romantic gesture Source material: 10 Things I Hate About You
In real life, romantic conflicts are solved by honest conversation and/ or the ability to ignore the faults of the person across the breakfast table. In rom-coms, the only way to save a flatlining love affair is an over-thetop expression of love, often involving some sort of public display and/ or musical performance and/or personal humiliation. Heath Ledger’s curmudgeonly rebel scored the grand gesture hat trick when he sang to Julia Stiles in the high school bleachers. Does Trainwreck conclude with a similar only-in-a-romcom spectacle? (What do you think?) See also: Never Been Kissed, Say Anything, Love Actually, Pretty Woman