By Melissa Antoinette Garza
When in theaters, I made it a point to skip I FEEL PRETTY. At one time, I loved Amy Schumer. I loved TRAINWRECK (2015) and there were several skits on her show that I found to be really funny. My disdain for her began when I read rumors regarding her joke theft. The examples are countless, and her denial is just an insult to her audience’s intelligence. My disgust for her grew when she lied about an encounter with a fan who she claimed was disrespectful. In truth, the man had the entire meeting on video and it contradicted everything Schumer said.
Things got worse when Schumer opted to go complete SJW. Whether it was her constantly claiming sexism, her uneducated rants about gun laws or her despicable behavior towards Trump supporters at her show, I just had enough – and so did many other people.
I FEEL PRETTY could have still succeeded if her “new” base, the Social Justice Warriors came to support it. Alas, they did not. In fact, they complained as soon as the preview dropped. Some people thought the concept was fat-shaming. Others claimed the role shouldn’t have gone to a white, cis-gender, blonde and able-bodied woman. If only she was a North Sentinel Island, plus-sized, transgender, brunette in a wheelchair!
For all these insane reasons and more, the movie is considered one of the largest flops of the year. This isn’t good for Schumer’s career as her previous entry SNATCHED (2017) failed to garner any positive attention either. Even the comeback of legendary great Goldie Hawn couldn’t save it.
That brings me to this evening. I really needed some light viewing. Extended family drama brought on a panic attack among other emotions, so I wanted something I could just watch without having to think. Since PRIME DAY is here on Amazon, it was only $2.99 to rent. After some debate, I decided I could live with Amy Schumer getting whatever portion of that three bucks she gets.
It would be easy for me to sit here and trash the film just because I dislike the actress/ “comedian,” but that would be disingenuous. I actually enjoyed it. It isn’t worth a purchase, but it is certainly worth a watch. This could have been a perfect date movie and would have faired far better if Schumer was a better person, hid her deceptiveness or at the very least didn’t insult 50% of the country. That’s just bad business.
I FEEL PRETTY is a cross between the 1996 version of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR and LEGALLY BLONDE (2001). It opens with insecure Renee Bennett (Amy Schumer) craving the life of all the models she encounters. She believes that being beautiful would give her everything she always wanted. Out of desperation and after watching the film BIG (1988), she runs out in a thunderstorm and throws a quarter in and wishes. She looks in her compact mirror only to be disappointed that it’s still her mug looking back.
The next day, while working out, she falls and hits her head. When she wakes up, she sees a different woman. Though her appearance remains unchanged, the injury to her head has skewed her perspective. She believes that her looks are so different, in fact, she’s sure no one will recognize her.
Rather than wait for them, she reintroduces herself to her friends who are confused and dumbfounded as she hasn’t changed a bit and they obviously know her.
Thinking she’s a walking 10 on a Cali scale, she comes out of her shell. She’s more flirtatious. She’s more of a go-getter. She gets her dream job and scores a great boyfriend named Ethan (Rory Scovel). Predictably, her ego gets out of control. She pushes her friends away and comes close to cheating on Ethan with her boss’s brother.
The third act revolves around her falling again and thinking she’s changed back. She works on resolving the conflicts with her friends and fears what Ethan will think of the “real her” even though he’s obviously been with the real her the whole time.
The very end has a positive message about self-confidence and not allowing those who verbally assault you to mentally tear you down. It’s an overdone message, but it was handled adequately and fit the storyline. To be fair, it wasn’t shoehorned in nor did it feel like I was getting hit on the head with a PC hammer.
Admittedly, there were a few SJW moments that were dreadful. I think they were meant to be jokes but there wasn’t a punchline or a set-up. It was just statements. The one that stood out the most was when Renee’s boss, Avery (Michelle Williams) invites her and her boyfriend out to a business dinner. Avery goes on this whole thing about “bring your boyfriend …or girlfriend,” which would have been fine but then Renee has to get that hammer out and say, “He identifies as a ‘he.” Thankfully, these were few and far between. Honestly, there is more in this movie that would piss off SJWs than make them applaud. It definitely wasn’t done intentionally, but the truth is you can’t make a SJW/PC film with heart. When art (whether music, film, literature) is created to cater to the offended, it all becomes affected and lacks any realism.
What I FEEL PRETTY illustrated, whether purposely or accidentally, is that people have to be responsible for themselves. Though Renee brings up how cruel insults can be, her focus is on telling those insulted to not let it impact their lives. Rather than, “your failures aren’t your fault. It’s the fault of the people being mean to you,” the message was, “people are going to be mean. Love yourself anyways” and that’s not a modern liberal message. It takes more of a classic liberal tone, and to SJWs that may as well be MEIN KAMPF.
It also emphasizes how women’s insecurities can hold themselves back in a professional field. Renee’s confidence and determination takes her from being locked in a small office with one other person, to a VP of marketing for a specific line of cosmetics. Within the film there weren’t any men holding women back. Quite the contrary. All the guys, even those that Renee was rude to, were really cool. None of them were sexist or scummy.
This had a reality-based feminist approach to storytelling that reflected the capabilities of ambitious, driven and confident women. Sadly, that message is missed on anyone more concerned about identity politics than actually watching the production.
Shockingly, I’d recommend this. The comedy was okay. The plot was interesting enough. The acting was really good, especially from Michelle Williams and Rory Scovel. The soundtrack was mostly fun, though I could have done without the Meghan Trainor. Aidy Bryant, who portrayed one of Renee’s friends, was definitely better here than on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, but that has more to do with SNL being the least funny thing on TV than a testimonial of her skills.
So yeah, rent this one. Have fun with it. It’s an hour and fifty minutes but it goes by quickly.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
