Written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein who are best known for writing romantic comedies, I Feel Pretty is a marginally entertaining comedy that fails to live up to its uniquely creative concept and use of comedic superstar Amy Schumer. The fairly simple premise revolves around Schumer’s character Renee Bennett who suffers from low self-esteem as a result of not being considered conventionally beautiful and working a dead-end job. She works for the fictional high-end cosmetics company Lily LeClaire in the unglamorous internet sales division located in a Chinatown basement, but she has hopes of some day working at the Fifth Avenue headquarters alongside the idolized CEO Avery LeClaire, played by the hilariously high-pitched Oscar nominee Michelle Williams. One day Renee is at a SoulCycle class when she falls and hits her head after which she believes she has been magically transformed into a person with supermodel looks. Over the course of the movie, Renee runs into ridiculous situations with her new found beauty and begins a romantic relationship with the insecure Ethan, played by comedian Rory Scovel. She also lands her coveted job working at the headquarters with Avery and her grandmother Lily, played by Lauren Hutton. Even though others do not see her looks as any different than before, she becomes popular because of her extreme confidence. However, she loses track of the important things in her life, including her best friends played by Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps. Overall, I found it underwhelming for a usually uproariously hilarious Amy Schumer who is better suited for her more vulgar comedic roles, and it fell short of trying to be a feel-good film that promotes positive messages about body image.
KEITH on Reels 