November DVDs: Overnight, Trainwreck
Posted on November 3, 2015 by bob in DVD
The Overnight (R) 
An attractive, loving couple (Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling) has just moved to Los Angeles with their young son. They’ve not had time to start building a social life. A chance meeting at a nearby park with another father (Jason Schwartzman) and his boy leads to a dinner invitation for what could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship for the families.
Schwartzman’s wife (Judith Godreche) is equally warm and friendly. Their home is spectacular; their combined interests, accomplishments and charisma are the stuff dreams are made of. After the boys are tucked away in their beds, the evening progresses for the adults. Everything about the hosts seems too wonderful to be true. They must have some dark secrets or hidden agendas. No one could be that perfect, or so unreservedly welcoming to newcomers, even in Hollywood comedies.
Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice it to say that the long evening of getting acquainted dangles aspects of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and a signature dramedy from the late 1960s, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. The R rating is for sexual elements, visually and otherwise. The hosts seem to be pushing the intimacy envelope, but their game plan remains elusive. Most of the film has viewers wondering how far will, or should, their sharing go, and what will that mean for any of them beyond the moment? Much is bared – physically and psychologically – throughout the night. The script’s humor is tempered with curiosity about what we don’t know about the hosts’ characters and motivations, which could lie anywhere from ultra-hip to adventurous to Satanic.
The performances are very good all around, teasing the audience as much as each other with vague disconnects between facades and inner truths. It’s like stud poker – the cards everyone sees aren’t the ones that determine who wins. Overall, the film is intriguing, if not compelling, and should prove to be positive career moves for all four principals – especially Scott and Schilling, who are much better known for their TV roles than from feature films. Bigger just might be better.
Trainwreck (R)
Amy Schumer is a terrific stand-up comic. Her cherubic looks provide counterpoint for the hip, sexual parts of her act. She’s crafted a likable image of an insecure single gal, assuming the path to happiness must be fueled by libido. That has further blossomed in her sketch series on Comedy Central, which also allows stretching of her acting chops while remaining reliably funny, often hilarious, and surprisingly insightful. Her success convinced Judd Apatow to direct this romantic comedy, with Schumer starring in her own screenplay opposite Bill Hader, and backed by a slew of familiar faces. The film contains plenty of laughs and surprises, but falls short of adding up to a cohesive and satisfying package.
Schumer plays a smart writer for a lurid magazine. The film deals with how she grew up — convinced that true love was a myth — leading to her adult life of boozy boinks, mostly with a parade of anonymous one-and-done dudes. Mr. Right seemed as likely to exist as Sasquatch, making Mr. Right Now the only attainable goal. But when she’s assigned to do a feature on a hugely successful, but socially inept, sports doctor (Hader), she’s surprised by his interest and her unprecedented receptivity. That immediately scares the hell out of her, leading to self-protective distancing. The role epitomizes her career persona to date. So what went wrong?
Schumer is one of her series’ writers, and likely the most influential, if not prolific. Her roots in skits and monologs show here, as many lines and scenes are worthy of her highlight reel, without adding up to the character development or plot cohesion a feature film requires. The whole turns out less than the sum of its parts, because too many laughs come without contributing to the big picture. Hader’s practice opens the door for a bunch of pro athletes (and one announcer) to appear. At first, LeBron James playing a dopey version of himself is delightful. But that caricature wears thin, and eventually seems embarrassing; same for a few of the other jocks and that announcer. Amar’e Stoudemire might be the comedy winner among the sports set.
Schumer and Apatow generously provide spots for a herd of fellow comics, from veterans like Colin Quinn and Dave Attell, to relative newcomers like Nikki Glaser and Bridget Everett, and a few of Hader’s former SNL cohorts. They add to the fun, as do Daniel Radcliffe and Marisa Tomei in a weirdly appealing sidebar. Tilda Swinton and John Cena, neither of whom is known for comedy, chip in surprising variations from their norms, as well.
The other problem may be Apatow. A lifelong comedy junkie who started in stand-up before emerging as a rom-com king should have retained a better sense of timing. His recent movies have been running longer than the material warrants, sapping the energy and undermining the punch of their high points. The man who created hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Pineapple Express seemed sharper than the one at the helm of This is Forty and Trainwreck. Apatow is returning to his standup roots for a while. Maybe live audiences will remind him why brevity was so famously called the soul of wit.
