I Feel Pretty

I Feel Pretty leans with full confidence on its star, Amy Schumer, who carries most of the film's comedic and emotional weight. As a comedy, the movie is rarely laugh-out-loud funny, but Schumer's exuberance and talent will have audiences grinning throughout. None of the jokes are too crude or cruel, and the central conflict is never too dark to take the audience out of their pleasantly amused mood. In terms of storytelling, the main lead Renee is the only fully developed character in the movie. Everyone else serves the tropes of the genre satisfactorily, but no one manages to steal the scenes from the star. At times, the beats that have to be hit feel like a drag, especially towards the end of the movie when the humor is sacrificed for message. However, one could hardly expect this movie to completely subvert chick-flick clichés. At most, the expectation should be that a movie like I Feel Pretty uses the formula lightly. With this standard in mind, the movie more or less succeeds. The message of the film, absolutely crucial to its success, in no way breaks new ground. The idea that inner beauty matters more than outer beauty is a hackneyed message, and the way the film addresses the issue is neither nuanced nor spectacular. But just because the moral and the medium used to tell it are simple, doesn't meant that it isn't a worthwhile message that can be entertaining in the hands of a talented comedian. If one goes into I Feel Pretty with tempered expectations, they will most likely have an enjoyable time.