# Trainwreck - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=58649[/img] 
*Title: Trainwreck* 

*Movie:* :3stars:
*Video:* :4stars:
*Audio:* :4stars: 
*Extras:* :3.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*75




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=58657[/img]*Summary*
Amy Schumer is an acquired taste I must admit. I’ve watched her comedy show for years and giggled myself silly, but she’s definitely a bit blue with her humor. In a way she reminds me of a female Andrew Dice Clay. The same brash demeanor and shock value humor. However I was really intrigued when I realized that Judd Apatow was directing her new movie “Trainwreck” as the man has directed some incredibly funny movie. I was even more surprised to see the good to great ratings that “Trainwreck” received for its theatrical release and was stoked to sit down and watch it in my own home theater. I have to sit back and go “huh” as the movie wasn’t what I expected. It carried a lot of Aptow’s trademark directing moves, but you could feel Amy Schumer’s heave involvement on the product side as well, as her humor and blunt use of gross out gags is quite clear. As a result we got some good and some bad from each of them.

Amy (Amy Schumer) has grown up believing that monogamy and “the one” is a complete myth thanks to her father, Gordon (Colin Quinn), beating it into her head after his separation from their mother. Thus she’s been living her life like an early 20’s party girl, schtooping one guy after another and drinking her way to an early grave (basically a real life version of Amy Schumer). She works at a sports and fashion magazine, with a handful of doofus’s for co-workers and a mean spirited boss who teases her along for the next promotion all the while insulting her (played devilishly by Tilda Swinton). When she’s required to do a sports piece on sports doctor Aaron Connors (Bill Hader), Amy is gagging on a spoon, but one thing leads to another and she finds herself in an actual COMMITTED relationship!

This can only last so long right? I mean, Amy isn’t that type of girls, but as the days and weeks go by she finds out that she kind of has a taste for it. Even through some truly goofy moments the brash party girl has found her equilibrium. However, overthinking ones actions is pretty common and soon enough Amy is doubting the future and getting cold feet. Terrified that she won’t be able to make it Amy starts sabotaging her own relationship, and it spirals even deeper after her father, Gordon, dies. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=58665[/img]
“Trainwreck” is a bit hit or miss for me. The weird homogenization of Judd Aptow and Amy Schumer seems to get mixed results from the writing crew. When the jokes are funny, they are really funny, especially if you’re into Amy’s brash humor. However, true to typical Aptow fashion, things can stretch on past their prime and jokes start getting a little too dry and a little TOO weird. Even though he’s only in it for a few minutes, John Cena completely stole the movie, acting as a running parody of his WWE persona. He and the patron in the movie theater has me rolling on the floor hitting the rewind button. Although their fascination with giving him seemingly gay inclinations and then never going anywhere with it just felt odd and awkward.

Aptow is known for needing some time editing on his films and “Trainwreck” is a prime example of this tendency in the director. It went on for WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long in the middle act by a good 30 minutes. Cut out about half of the middle act and end with the ending used and it would have been a lot smoother in my opinion, but This IS Aptow we’re talking about. At least he isn’t like Tarantino and craves 3 hour movies!

Shumer and Hader actually make a decently cute couple, mainly because Hader is so gangly and nerdy looking and Amy is so adorably just a MESS that the two work well. Amy plays on she’s not considered “hot” by Hollywood standards and really has some fun with the role, but unfortunately she’s a bit toned down from her comedy bits, and really doesn’t hit you in the gut with her jokes like she usually does. It’s a full R-rated comedy film so I’m not sure if that was intentional or if Judd wanted to take the tone in a different direction than what she’s used to playing.



*Rating:* 

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use 



*Video* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=58673[/img]The 2.40:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray looks very good, showcasing a warm color palette and some great saturation in that department. Sometimes I noticed the skin tones creeping a bit ruddier than expected, as the film likes to use a lot of reds in the shooting. Resolution is very strong, with crisp, razor sharp close ups that really reveal everything that they can about the scene. However, longer shots tend to look a good bit softer and don’t resolve the resolution as well. Black levels are strong, with inky deep textures and no sign of crush. I couldn’t really detect any digital artifacting on the disc or other compression artifacts, as the encode is given a nice mid-range 30mbps to work with. 







*Audio* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=58681[/img]The 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio is definitely a drama track, as the film is 99% dialog with some ambient background noises thrown in for good measure. Vocals are crisp and clear, locked up in the front and balanced well with the background effects. Surrounds are mainly relegated to reproducing background noises like the baby shower with people muttering and milling all around, or the traffic on the city streets while Amy stumbles home drunk from another late night. LFE comes and goes, adding some extra weight to the score as well as a nice thin layer for doors, and Amy slamming unceremoniously off a trampoline. It’s a mellow track, and works well with the genre of film they were working with. 






*Extras* :3.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=58689[/img]
• Unrated Version
• Line-O-Rama
• Feature Commentary with Judd Apatow & Amy Schumer
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Extended Scenes
• The Dogwalker
• Directing Athletes: A Blood Sport
• Behind-the-Scenes
• "Trainwreck" Comedy Tour






*Overall:* :3.5stars:

I had a decent amount of fun with “Trainwreck” and even though I had some problems with the film I don’t consider it its namesake. There’s some entertainment here, and despite a sluggish center act, picks up quite dramatically for the final act, ending on a very sweet note. It won’t be a laugh out loud comedy for the whole family, but fans of Aptow and Amy will definitely get some good chuckles out of the film. Audio and video look great on the disc and the extras are actually pretty substantial. Definitely worth a rental. 

*Additional Information:*

Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Tilda Swinton
Directed by: Judd Aptow
Written by: Amy Schumer
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: ENGLISH: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 204 minutes / 209 minutes Unrated
Blu-ray Release Date: November 10th, 2015



*Buy Trainwreck Blu-ray on Amazon*


*Recommendation: Rental​*







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