[wpdevart_youtube]cVx9EFK3DWE[/wpdevart_youtube]
I Feel Pretty
****
Dir: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein
Starring: Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski
(USA, 12A, 1hr 50mins)
I love Amy Schumer. A lot. But in I Feel Pretty, I love Michelle Williams more. Her role as the high pitched, bird-like, teetering CEO of magazine Lily LeClair is a delightful revelation regards Williams’ comedic talent. Schumer’s is – as always – excellent, but Williams steals every scene she shares with her. It reminds one of when Rose Byrne started doing comedy; the surprise of not knowing her in this context makes her delivery twice as funny.
The film has a clear message to impart about the meaning of beauty, with Schumer’s character Renee a vehicle for this message, all focused on the disparity harvested by the beauty industry – between how women see themselves and how they want to look.
A scene early on is the most moving part of the film for me. Renee looks in the mirror at her reflection and is just utterly deflated. You can feel the sense of worthlessness radiating from her. It’s hard not to slip into the temptation of seeing Amy Schumer staring at her reflection instead of Renee Bennett. But you have to pause and ask – is it not arrogant to assume Schumer hates her body because the industry tells her to? Is that not an insult? Or does the industry really spare no female? Maybe she has always loved her body in defiance – never accepting the shame society dished her. But if she had, I don’t know if this scene would have been so cutting. It really has been done a thousand times, but this was the first time it felt real.
The theme of shame versus confidence are the two strings tying the story arc together throughout the entire film. But it’s how this story is told that I think makes it unique. Yes, the premise is far from original – a bump on the head and Freaky Friday ensues, but here it is a vital cinematic tool used very well to illustrate that it is a shift in mindset – and not body – that offsets the chain of success that comes as a result of Renee’s new-found confidence.
Finally deeming herself as accepted by the beauty industry, Renee no longer cares about her “substandard looks” – she now views them as beautiful. It is here that the message is the loudest. The power dynamic that is at play between consumer and beauty industry is interrogated when Renee no longer gives a fuck. And that’s the key element: power. The beauty industry holds so much of it. But if you just don’t care – they lose that spell. If you let the industry dictate how to rate your body you will spend your life running around attempting to jump through the hurdles they keep raising and raising.
The film could have been funnier – Schumer’s talent was a little lost in the script (not written by her) along with her one-demensional-vehicle-character. Trainwreck was much richer with giggles and wit. And although there really can only be one ending to this script, I feel it has a place. It’s predictable and kitschy, yes, and the message is nearly, basically, almost the same as The Devil Wears Prada. But the face delivering it is a whole lot different this time, and Amy Schumer’s counts for a lot.
words Ruth Seavers