Schumer shines in dull comedy
I Feel Pretty (M, 110 mins) Directed by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein ★★1⁄2
Renee Barrett (Amy Schumer) has always tackled life with a smile on her face. She knows she’s not the most graceful. She realises her job in cosmetic company Lily LeClaire’s webteam isn’t the most glamorous. But she’s also fully aware that she has always got her best-mates Vivian (Aidy Bryant) and Jane (Busy Philipps) for support, even when their combined dating profile receives no ‘‘clicks, twits or pokes’’.
So when the server at her dingy office in New York’s Chinatown goes down, encouraged by her workmate, Renee decides to handdeliver daily webtraffic report to the company’s 5th Avenue HQ herself. While there, she spots a vacancy for a receptionist position and immediately sets her sights on the role, believing it could be a lifealtering foot-in-the-door.
However, change comes in the form of a second spin-class accident in days, head trauma leaving her convinced that she’s been physically transformed into the vision of perfection she’s always dreamed of. Buoyed by this new level of confidence, Renee reels in a boyfriend and wows her new work colleagues, especially boss Avery LeClaire (a heliumvoiced Michelle Williams) who needs her ‘‘ordinary woman’’ insights to help launch a department store ‘‘diffusion’’ line.
But as Renee starts to be swept up in a fantasy world of private jets, designer outfits and billionaire beaus, it becomes apparent that she’s losing touch with her friends and her real self.
Writer-directing duo Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein’s (How to be Single, Valentine’s Day) cringe concussion-comedy suffers greatly from plot predictability, a dose of deja vu and being a little too daffy for its own good.
Borrowing bits from The Intern, The Devil Wears Prada, Big and most notably Ugly Betty, I Feel Pretty feels like one of those highconcept 1990s comedies the Farrelly brothers (Stuck on You, Me, Myself and Irene) excelled at. Think Shallow Hal, but with a 2018 more female-skewed shift. An over-caffeinated soundtrack doesn’t help and your enjoyment will definitely depend on how much of Williams reprising her My Week With Marilyn voice you can stand.
However, as a vehicle for the talents of Schumer (Trainwreck) this certainly serves her far better than the unholy action-comedy that was Snatched.
Pretty allows her to show the full range of her prowess for physical comedy and comedic timing. It’s just a pity that there wasn’t as much attention paid to the script as the costuming department, because to paraphrase Williams’ airheaded Avery, this movie is ‘‘super weird’’ and only partly effective.
– James Croot