It’s very rare that trailers outside a) Marvel, b) Star Wars or c) Jason Statham punching a giant shark make cultural ripples that penetrate the culture. But earlier this year, the promo for seemingly innocuous Amy Schumer flick I Feel Pretty did just that. The idea that it posited a world where white, blonde, normal-sized Amy Schumer is fundamentally undateable, allied with the idea inner strength and confidence are the preserve of the outwardly beautiful, understandably wrought all sorts of internet backlash and think-pieces about its appropriateness. The broad, fitfully funny finished film proves the outrage both right and wrong: while it does ultimately deliver life lessons of empowerment coming from within, it also plays on perceptions of Schumer’s appearance for misguided laughs (witness a lengthy erotic dance set-piece) and stirs up a hornets' nest of issues around body shaming, privilege (Schumer is white, affluent, attractive) and beauty ideals that it fails to reconcile within its comedic, almost fairy-tale tone.
At one point, Schumer’s Renee Bennett sits down and watches Big, which is a bit like the Magnificent Seven taking a pew to watch Seven Samurai, so closely does I Feel Pretty follow Penny Marshall’s film’s structure and cautionary tale on the dangers of wish fulfilment. In this case, Renee, a footsoldier in the online division of a huge cosmetics company who can’t get served in bars, makes babies cry with her appearance and has zero luck with internet dating, “always wondered what it feels like to be undeniably pretty” like gym buddy Mallory (Emily Ratajkowski). After she hits her head in a (brutally staged-for-a-comedy) spin class accident, she perceives herself as drop dead gorgeous, gaining the confidence to win a receptionist job at head office (she becomes important as a sounding board for working class gals) and chat up nice guy Ethan (Scovel) before her burgeoning ego sees her alienate her friends. It is only a matter of time before the inevitable moment of clarity.
The film is the directorial debut of writing team Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn, responsible for Never Been Kissed, He’s Just Not That Into You and — for their sins — Valentine’s Day. I Feel Pretty is marshalled efficiently enough, toggling between Schumer’s bold, confident shtick and broad physical comedy. They have fun playing with gender stereotypes, particularly with Scovel’s decidedly un-macho, Zumba-loving boyfriend and Michelle Williams’ cosmetic career girl with a surprisingly tiny voice. But there are a lot of obvious unfunny notes — slow-motion shots of Schumer strutting to Alicia Keys’ Girl On Fire — and the film doesn’t totally transcend some of the more unpleasant notions in its premise.
