I Feel Pretty just might give women more confidence

Movie Title: 

    I Feel Pretty

Grade:   B+

Rating: PG-13, 110 minutes

In a Nutshell: 
Every female is going to relate to this movie.  I think it’s fairly safe to say that every woman has insecurities about herself.  

Whether it’s a lack of confidence about how we look or speak or do certain things, we all wish we felt better about ourselves.  We can be our own worst enemy. The mirror certainly doesn't help.  This isn’t a movie about body shaming, but one of having self-confidence and trying to be your best self. In an interview with with Gayle King, Amy Schumer explained it as a journey, both the struggle for feeling good about one's self and her own career.

It’s kind of a mix between Jack Black’s comedy Shallow Hal and Tom Hank’s charming movie Big (I loved both of them).  It’s a fun chick flick…meaning, take your besties to the theater, share a giant bucket of popcorn, and don't beat yourself up for not being so perfect.

                             

Tips for parents: 

·      Some profanity.

·      You see a lot of Amy Schumer’s cleavage, mid-section, and bare naked back side a couple of times, complete with tramp stamp.  There is also a scene with a bunch of beautiful women in skimpy bikinis.

·      There is a lot of talk about sex, as well as a super awkward sex scene where you see some skin.  Pre-marital relations.

·      2 gay men.

·      Renee (Amy Schumer) gets drunk.

·      One of the girls confesses she has HPV and explains it away by saying, “Everyone has HPV.”  Um….nope.  That’s not true.  Guess what?  If you don’t sleep around, you won’t get it.

 Uplifting theme: 

·     “Believe in yourself.”  - Renee Bennett (Amy Schumer)

·      It’s confidence that makes you beautiful and sexy.

·      “Change your mind, change your life.” – Soul Cycle teacher

·      “We are real women.  What a great thing to be.” – Renee Bennett

·      Do YOU really see people?  Do you judge people just by how they look?

                                                      

Things I liked:

·  Michelle Williams is hilarious and awesome.  She's so effective in dramas, but it's also nice to see her in a comedic role.  She has had an amazing few months in the success of The Greatest Showman , as well as All The Money In The World .  We'll see her again in the upcoming movie "Venom." She's on a roll!

·   Most young people won’t know who Lauren Hutton is.  There is a picture towards the very end of the movie that shows Lauren Hutton when she was at the peak of her modeling days as a young woman.  I thought it was really fun to have her in the movie as Lily LeClaire.

·      Yep, it’s true.  Kentucky Fried Chicken does use Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.

·      I liked that the Soul Cycle teacher told all of the class participants to “set an intention.”  If we were all more mindful and proactive about our lives, we’d be surprised at how much better things turned out.  Renee (Amy Schumer) wears a sweatshirt at the beginning of the movie that says “Get it Girl!” which is the anthem of the movie.  Take your flaws and STILL believe in yourself.

·      It’s refreshing to see how brave Amy Schumer is about making fun of herself and flaunting her more than size 2 body.  Her stand-up comedy bits have always been completely honest, although extremely raunchy. I admire that she doesn't let Hollywood make her feel terrible about herself.

·      I’ve been a big fan of Saturday Night Live ever since my college roommate and I would watch it together on a tiny TV in our dorm room.  I love seeing a lot of the comediennes from SNL on movies lately.  This one features the talented Aidy Bryant and Sasheer Zamata. 

·      You’ll see a lot of beautiful women like Naomi Campbell and Emily Ratajkowski.

·      I laughed at the beginning when the camera scanned all of Renee’s beauty products in her bathroom.  Most of us spend ridiculous amounts of money on products, hoping they will FINALLY be the magic pill to make us look prettier and feel better about ourselves.  The ironic thing about this movie is that Renee works for a cosmetic company and her speech at the end sells more make-up.
*  I loved Renee's color-coordinated boxes behind her desk in the China town basement.  

Things I didn’t like:

·   You know what else is attractive?  Virtue and humility.  While Hollywood has been pumping out a lot of "be who you are" movies lately, there is a serious lack of movies that celebrate women, or men for that matter, who are virtuous and humble and chaste.  Religious values are, more often than not, mocked in Hollywood movies. Yeah, that doesn't exactly get laughs or sell box office tickets, but I sure would like to see more well-behaved, good girls in movies being honored for a change.

*  Everyone loved Amy Schumer when she first hit the scene, but for some reason, it’s now popular to hate her.  Her stand-up routines are super trashy and she seems to celebrate being a skank, but I love that she doesn’t apologize for not being the skinny model that Hollywood thinks she should be.

·   I thought it was funny that they grouped Busy Philipps with the “average” girlfriends, because I’ve always thought she was pretty.
*  I thought for sure that some time during the movie we'd hear a modern version of the famous  West Side Story song, I Feel Pretty.  Nope, it never played.  Missed opportunity, right?
*  Women are definitely going to appreciate this movie more than men.

Funny lines:

·      “Can I be you when I grow up?” – Ethan (Rory Scovel) 

Interesting lines:

·   “I think a lot of people are confused about themselves.” – Ethan

·      “I started to believe that if I wanted it bad enough, all my dreams could come true.” – Renee Bennett

·      “What if we never lost that little girl confidence?” – Renee

·      “This make-up line won’t change your life – only you can do that.” – Renee

·      “I know I look good.  I don’t need a room full of drunk guys to confirm it.” – Renee

·      “I am brave.  I am blonde.  And I got this!” – Mason (Adrian Martinez)

                                                     

                                                @trinaboice