Trainwreck (2015) * *

Directed by:  Judd Apatow

Starring:  Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Colin Quinn, Brie Larson, Lebron James, Amare Stoudamire, Tilda Swinton

I know I've written this before, but boy does an editor on a Judd Apatow movie have the best gig in Hollywood.    Even the good Apatow films overstay their welcome, but why subject us to more of movies like Funny People, This Is 40, and now Trainwreck than absolutely necessary?

Trainwreck isn't a total train wreck.   It is a sporadically funny romantic comedy about a commitment-phobic woman played by comedian Amy Schumer.   She certainly drinks more than she should and has commitment issues, but she's mostly harmless.    She is just not someone we root for to be happy.    Why should we care if she finds true love with Hader's Dr. Aaron Conners?    Conners can do better and should.    Even after the film's forced happy ending, I'll bet if we revisit the couple in a week they would be broken up again.   

As written and played by Schumer, her character Amy Townsend is too cool for the room.    She doesn't seem at home unless she has a drink in her hand, a joint in her mouth, or some snarky remark for someone.    The best parts of Trainwreck do not involve Schumer at all.    We see Lebron James playing himself as someone with zillions of dollars who splits a lunch check with his friend Dr. Conners.     (And pulling the old "I left my wallet in the car" routine).     James isn't a wooden version of himself.    He is engaging and protective of his friend.     Colin Quinn plays Amy's father, a diehard Mets fan suffering from MS who advises his two daughters when they are young, "Monogamy isn't realistic."    Amy follows this advice and avoids having guys sleep over, let alone commit to a monogamous relationship.     Her sister Kim (Larson), takes the traditional route of having a family.   

I also enjoyed WWE Superstar John Cena's role as the closest thing Amy has to be a steady boyfriend.   He's a musclebound lug named Steve who doesn't seem to realize he may be gay.    When Amy asks him to talk dirty to her, he tells her how hot she looked in jeans and climaxes when he says, "I thought you were a guy."    He's funny, especially when he is compared to Mark Wahlberg by a stranger.   ("I look like Mark Wahlberg after he ate Mark Wahlberg.")    Bill Hader is not just a straight man setting up the punchlines for Amy.   He is likable and we wonder how he could be interested in a selfish lush like her.    He would be better off looking elsewhere.    Tilda Swinton is nearly unrecognizable sporting long blonde locks, but the Oscar winner is a deft comic actress as well.   

Basically, the supporting characters here are fresh, while Amy Schumer herself, who is the star of the film, is someone we want to spend the least amount of time with.     I also could've done without the cameos by Chris Evert, Matthew Broderick, and Marv Albert in an attempted intervention for Conners.     The scene disintegrates without any payoff as Marv conducts play by play of the proceedings.    It's unfunny and ungainly.    Here is one segment the underworked editor could have lopped off.

Don't get me wrong.   Amy Schumer is attractive and maintains a screen presence which would serve her well in other movies.    But on the evidence of Trainwreck, she is more of a supporting player than a lead.    She would be better off playing someone who is not so close to herself or her stand-up act.    And Judd Apatow should start understanding that not every idea needs to show up in the movie.