I Feel Pretty – film review
Recently you may have noticed an intense sensitivity in the media. As time has gone on, we’ve become more progressive on our views of beauty in society. Now more than ever, women of all different colour, creed and size are breaking the mould and smashing huge cinematic success. Yet we are more protective of political correctness than ever. Going into the screening of I Feel Pretty, I was aware of the media backlash pertaining to fat shaming and a general misrepresentation of beauty portrayed in the film. I did however walk into this film a thirty-year-old woman with an autoimmune disease and a body that has changed significantly as a result. I was raw and ready to watch a film about self-identity, confidence and self-acceptance whilst also having a laugh.
Amy Schumer lays on her reliable brand of gritty comedy as she introduces a fairly average Renee. She’s funny with the people she knows, she works in a basement with a quirky co-worker for a major cosmetics company and she’s struggling for a date. Quite intelligently, Schumer manages to encapsulate the brutal nature that is the catch and release of online dating. The profile scrutiny, the pressure to stand out and the shallow nature of the millennial matchmaking tool. Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant does a great job of the best mate finding her friend’s obsession with weight and self-deprecating commentary obnoxious, and it is. I have friends of different shapes and sizes and I know they don’t care to hear my weight struggle in comparison to theirs, but the truth is, it’s my struggle. Renee is in a rut, she’s depressed and she focuses far too hard on her exterior that she suffocates her otherwise sparkly interior.
Renee struggles as she tries her weightloss luck at a Soulcycle class. We’ve all been that girl showing up to their first fitness class, feeling all kinds of weird, nervous and genuinely hoping no one looks in case you die. Renee meets Emily Ratajkowski at the gym and I honestly could live without it. Instagram does not an actress make, and unfortunately this casting is just another one-dimensional move from the model. I digress… Renee falls off somewhat ungracefully in some classic slapstick humour, but manages to get home in time to judge herself in the mirror. I know that look. As Renee stands in her spanks up to her ears, she looks like I look when staring at a reflection you want to justify. The moment lingers and I truly relate more to this scene than any other. Am I acceptable?
The film pays attention to the build, setting up a job opportunity at Lily LeClaire, her cosmetic giant company that Renee feels too intimidated to apply for. Then one night in some kind of hormonal break-down, our misguided protagonist visits a random fountain Freaky Friday style in the pouring rain wishing to be beautiful. It’s hammy, but turns out it works so next time you’re praying not to have repercussions to your drunken night, seek out this fountain.
Another day, another Soulcycle attempt, only this time it results in a concussion and she should totally stop going to this gym. Coming to, Schumer’s character has a complete Shallow Hal experience, only instead of there being any real physical change, the transformation is purely in Renee’s mind giving her the confidence to be what turns out as a pretty amazingly funny and intelligent woman. No longer struggling for a drink at the bar. No longer afraid to apply for the job. No longer afraid to meet men. Confidence goes a long way, and unlike make-up, a filter or an injection, it cannot be bought.
Our “suddenly hot” heroine lands the coveted job at Lily LeClaire and we meet Avery, Michelle Williams’ hilarious interpretation of the vapid and airy make-up heiress and CEO. Naomi Campbell cameos, however we pretty much never see her again and herein lies the problem with the rest of the film. Loose ends are left all over the place and characters are critically undeveloped and confusing. There’s two love interests, one slightly more fleshed out than the other, two greatly casted BFF’s in Aidy Bryant and Busy Phillips, who are painfully underused.
Renee takes her newfound hotness to high altitude asshole levels when beauty and success turn her into a real piece of shit. For me, this is a reflection of success souring the character and it’s pretty predictable from here. I think the real issue I have with the film is not the sick interpretation of beauty from a woman who has spent far too much time on Instagram, but the fact Renee felt an indebted commitment to a guy after only two dates.
Honestly, it’s all fair game until you’ve had the talk. Nevertheless, lighthearted rom-coms can skip the sense and jump to the unrealistic ending, but this film just putters out. I don’t believe at all that they fat shamed. I believe they took the insides of a woman’s mind who feels pressure from society and manages to convince herself that she’s ten times the size and less valid because of it. I have been that girl and I will be that girl. In a culture fixated on selfies, lip injections and social media, it’s hard not to use unrealistic expectations of beauty as a mirror you’ll never see a true reflection in. I Feel Pretty had some strong insights, but not enough execution to make it great. You’ll laugh, you’ll relate and then you’ll order more wine just to make it to the credits.
I Feel Pretty is in cinemas now.
Review by Samantha Dickson.
