The Amy Schumer vehicle “I Feel Pretty” tackles a very real epidemic — the crisis of confidence. Low self-esteem is part of the human condition for people of any age, gender or race, but it’s particularly virulent and destructive in the young female population, resulting in eating disorders, imposter syndrome, plastic surgery, billions of dollars spent on beauty products, diets, shapewear and generally a serious failure to thrive.
Writing/directing duo Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein take on this issue in a high-concept comedy with the notion that it’s all in your head. “Change your mind, change your life,” chants a SoulCycle instructor, Luna (Angela M. Davis, a real-life celeb instructor whose motivational speeches have inspired Beyonce and Oprah on the bike). What if we all just woke up one day and decided to be confident?
Renee (Schumer) is crippled by low self-esteem. She’s obsessed with beauty — and her own perceived lack of it. When she takes a tumble from her SoulCycle bike, the head injury makes her think she’s hot stuff. She scores her dream job and gets the guy, thanks to a simple attitude adjustment. It’s a powerful depiction of just what that kind of mentality shift can do. The way Renee loves herself makes people love her in kind.
But despite this inherently positive message, “I Feel Pretty” bungles the execution. Schumer might not be a supermodel, but she still benefits from being an average-size blond white woman, and therefore, isn’t quite the right performer for the role. The way the modelesque women who populate the beauty company Lily LeClair recoil in horror from Renee is implausible at best (though Michelle Williams is inspired in her very specific fashionista performance choices). Her self-love is believable, but the way some people react to that doesn’t ring true.
“I Feel Pretty” is imperfect, but it can spark important conversations about confidence and the way we feel about ourselves. But it shies away from the heart of the matter. Renee works at a beauty company, but we never stop to examine into the industry’s practices of keeping women feeling bad so they continue spending money trying to feel pretty.
Her radical self-acceptance is downright revolutionary, because the advertising industry runs on self-loathing. And yet, her redemption arc isn’t to reject this system, but double down on it. It might now come packaged with an empowering speech, but it remains a vicious cycle of capitalist consumption based on feeling inadequate. The film wants to encourage us to find our beauty within, while turning a blind eye to those external, industrial forces that profit from our insecurity. “I Feel Pretty” boldly takes on our crisis of confidence, but it sacrifices all of its radical potential to tie everything up in a nice, pretty bow.
MOVIE REVIEW
“I Feel Pretty”
Grade: C
Starring Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams and Rory Scovel. Directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein.
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some partial nudity, and language. Check listings for theaters. 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Bottom line: A muddled film that has some bright spots
About the Author
