Trainwreck

Director Judd Apatow cannot seem to refrain from strong sexual content in his films. However, he always tends to add a little heart to the stories he directs and delivers some form of redemption. “Trainwreck” is one of those films. Meet Amy (Amy Schumer), a magazine journalist who was raised on the worst of morals by her unfaithful father Gordon (Colin Quinn). Amy believes she is living the dream, sleeping around with numbers of guys, drinking, smoking, and partying it up as frequently as possible.

Believing that “monogamy isn’t realistic”, to quote her father, Amy does not see anything wrong with her immoral lifestyle. However, the tide begins to turn when she starts to write an article on Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), a sports doctor. As Amy continues to learn more about both Aaron’s personal life and professional career, she feels mixed emotions that she never really felt before. She and Aaron begin to develop a relationship that teaches them both about the true meaning of love and friendship. This not only helps them bond together as a couple, but also helps them (especially Amy) bond with the ones they are most close to and truly love.

“Trainwreck” is cleverly written by Amy Schumer, has solid performances from its leads, and contains strong direction from director Judd Apatow. However, the script does resort to some unnecessary crude sexual content and dialog that does nothing but mar the heart of the story. The music adds a nice, light tone to the film, as some classic oldie hits fill the background, and, although the story becomes quite emotional at times, the film never refrains from some form of comedic wit to help lighten up the mood.

As a film student, some of the editing and continuity bothered me, as the editing was a little choppy. The story, itself, starts to drag a bit in the middle and at the end. For a two hour comedy, though, the pacing is still very steady and keeps its audience engaged in the personal lives of Amy and Aaron.

It is a shame. “Trainwreck” has so much heart behind its story, but the abhorrent sexual content and strong language distract its viewers and suck them into the immoral Hollywood lifestyle. Amy sleeps around with a number of men and is proud of it, too. There are a handful of sex scenes where we see Amy in bed with different men. One scene contains some graphic sexual movements and another implies oral sex. Rear male nudity is seen on a number of occasions, and another man just barely covers his privates with a towel in one scene.

It must also be noted that Amy attempts to have sex with a sixteen year-old boy while completely drunk. She is not aware that he’s underage and gets caught by the boy’s mom before anything happens. However, the boy does force her to slap (and later punch) him to add some arousal. We see some characters rip off their clothes before sex begins, and Amy in bed with some other men after implied sex. There are a handful of passionate kissing scenes, as well. As expected, there are plenty of crude sexual references, from terms for anatomy to various sex acts. Cheerleaders wear short outfits, and there are also references to homosexuality.

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” —1 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV)

The violence is relatively mild for the exception of seeing some small wounds with blood and a couple of moments in an operating room. Some blood gets sprayed comically, wounds (although not graphic) are seen during a surgical procedure, and a bloody head wound is seen being stitched up. There is also mention of a character committing suicide from taking too much pain medication.

The language is quite strong, as we hear more than 50 f-words and 25 s-words. As mentioned above, there are loads of crude anatomical references to both male and female anatomy, and God’s name is abused close to 20 times, paired with d*mn once or twice. Jesus’ name is abused a couple of times, as well. There are also a handful of uses of milder profanities and vulgarities, including a**, h*ll, d*mn, b*tch, and cr*p.

There is plenty of drug and alcohol content, as characters (especially Amy) drink strong liquor profusely and smoke handfuls of marijuana. References to drugs are also made, including prescription Viagra and Adderall. Cigarettes are also smoked.

A character vomits and another is apparently racist. However, no racial slurs are used.

“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” —Matthew 15:11

“Trainwreck” is certainly a wreck when it comes to its displays of an ungodly, immoral lifestyle, but it also has a heart. Sadly, most audiences will not see the subtle moral root to this romantic comedy, due to so much immoral content. Drug and alcohol abuse may be on display, but neither are shown in a positive light. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). The effects of such abuse are clear, especially when it comes to Amy’s character. Such abuse not only hurts one’s self physically, but emotionally, and Amy realizes the hurt she has caused to so many of those she loves.

Amy later admits that her father did not raise her and her sister properly, but she says that she still loves him with all of her heart despite his faults. As Ephesians 6:2 says, “Honor your father and mother…”

I do not recommend “Trainwreck” for even the most mature audience due to the strong sexual content, vulgar language, and drug abuse. The harmful effects of sexual immorality are not clearly displayed. However, some characters do actually care about Amy’s corrupt lifestyle. One of Amy’s former boyfriends dumps her after she makes her intentions clear that she doesn’t want to settle down and get married. But what really hurts this man is that Amy thinks that it’s okay for her to keep sleeping with various guys, and he with various women. He was hoping for marriage, though, and he leaves her completely distraught. He just wanted one partner, but she wants more.

Aaron also cares about the number of guys that Amy has slept with and is concerned about her drug addiction. But nearly every character seems to think that premarital sex is completely normal and that crude, profane language is okay to use.

Amy may try to redeem herself by film’s end, but it’s only a small step in the right direction. “Trainwreck” tends to make its audience think that Amy did, in fact, reach the light at the end of the tunnel and fully redeem herself. But the film cuts short as she still has a long ways to go on the road to redemption.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” —Ephesians 4:29

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Heavy to extreme

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