One of the best self-worth and personal empowerment movies I have ever seen. The movie is about a young professional woman who struggles with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. She doesn’t believe she is “visible” when next to women who look like they stepped out of Glamour or Vogue magazines. Until she hits the floor from falling off a spin bike in a class she is hoping will change her physique. She awakens with a belief that she is everything she has ever dreamed of looking like and being. Filled with confidence and courage like never before she tasks risks and becomes her own “it” girl. People are taken aback by her behavior as there is actually no visible difference. In her mind, her looks have led her to win in life on every level from love to her career. She feels beautiful and empowered living fearlessly. As she is about to give the presentation of her life in her new role as a vice-president for the company where she works (having gone from the basement to the top), she runs into the glass bathroom door. When she awakens she looks in the mirror and the “spell” has been broken. She sees herself as she had before. Her confidence and self belief is gone. She is too afraid to deliver the presentation, she has lost her friends, she is back at the bottom; until she decides that is not where she wants to be. In the end, she realizes by seeing side by side pictures of when she “thought” she was hot and when she thought she was “not” that in fact, she always looked the same. She embraces this and steps into living her life with self-love and self-confidence.
Aside from Amy Schumer’s character and her self-worth revelations, the movie was sprinkled with other characters who would seem to have all of the confidence in the world, with outward beauty or brains, both female and male, but as you will see, that is not the case. You see a beautiful face who dislikes her voice and feels like her knowledge is based on her voice. She feels she is not taken seriously because she sounds squeaky. There’s a guy who is incredibly intelligent and yet painstakingly shy because he is afraid his feelings will not be reciprocated. As Amy’s character is focused on what some have called “fat shaming,” I saw this movie differently. As I was leaving the theater, I overheard a father and husband, Denver McGarey, say to his family, “that was a classic feel-good movie.” He shared that he was glad he brought his teenage sons to see it. My friend, Tendayi Gentile, thought it was fun and we both laughed out loud through many parts of the movie, and yet I was also moved to tears thinking about how so many people are trapped by their feelings of not being good enough. That’s simply not true. I loved this movie and will see it again.
Movie times: click here
Genre: Comedy
Written and Directed by: Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein
Actors: Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski
Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Rating: Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some partial nudity, and language
