I Feel Pretty

Official Australian release date: 19/4/18. Viewed: 18/4/18.

Directors: Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein

Actors: Amy Schumer, Rory Scovel, Busy Phillips, Aidy Bryant

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M

   

‘I Feel Pretty’ is a mostly-straightforward romantic comedy from the writers of ‘Never Been Kissed’, ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ and ‘How To Be Single’, so it’s safe to assume you know pretty much what to expect. There’s also a nice twist on the tried-and-tested body-switch plot – Renee (Schumer) hits her head and believes she has achieved her dream of becoming beautiful.

Renee believing she’s the hottest woman alive is where a lot of the humour comes from, but also some of the missteps – since Renee and her two friends, Jane (Phillips) and Vivian (Bryant), are not actually ugly. It’s also where most of the sincere moments come from – it’s not all about what you look like, but the confidence you have in yourself, highlighted in a rousing speech by Schumer near the end. She’s (mostly) not too over-the-top and is (mostly) easy to cheer for.

While not focusing solely on girl-meets-boy/falls-in-love/separate/get-back-together, it still manages to fit that all in, with Ethan (Scovel) a decent foil to Schumer. It’s annoying that the backdrop to a film that’s actually about not worrying about looks is centered around a make-up company, run by Avery (Williams) and Grant (Hopper) – both mostly pointless. Overall, it’s not as good as ‘Trainwreck’, but nor is it a totally vapid “chick flick”.

Overall: Slightly above-average romantic comedy.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.