I Feel Pretty successfully tells an important message; unfortunately, there is not much else to the film.
Renee (Amy Schumer) lacks self-confidence leading her to not strive for new opportunities in her career or in her personal life. She attempts a spin-class one day, but falls off her bike, and hits her head. When she wakes up, Renee thinks that she has physically transformed into being beautiful, despite looking exactly the same, giving her the confidence to make changes in her life.
I Feel Pretty is commendable for creating a story around an incredibly important message about the importance of confidence, and how confidence is impacted by society’s toxic views about beauty. It gets its message across clearly in an entertaining way, and is therefore successful. The film does have its shortcomings, but it never detracts from the message.
The film’s biggest weakness is its runtime. At an hour and fifty minutes, I Feel Pretty is much longer than most comedies should be, and its length is noticeable. The movie constantly feels like it is dragging on. It takes far too long to get to moments of substance, and once it finally gets to that point it never knows when to move on.
This is unfortunate because it dilutes the power of the overall message. The point is so clear that the film feels tedious at times. I Feel Pretty does not attempt at all to innovate on the story structure, becoming ultimately predictable as this same type of story of self-discovery has been told countless times.
However, despite the story problems of I Feel Pretty, it is nonetheless an entertaining and feel-good movie. Much of this is from Amy Schumer’s performance. I Feel Pretty is PG-13 unlike Schumer’s much raunchier previous films. While there are plenty of benefits to Schumer’s more typical over-the-top, crude humor, the PG-13 allows her to explore new depths.
Without relying too much on the shock value afforded to R-rated humor, Schumer is able to craft a more developed character. Further, I Feel Pretty allows Schumer to have two very distinct performances, as Schumer’s character Renee begins the film as insecure, but after the accident she becomes confident.
Both of these performances are believable, and the insecure Renee allows Schumer to play a character more vulnerable than she has ever played before. This shows Schumer’s range as an actress, especially as these two performances feel cohesive existing in this one character, despite being incredibly different.
Schumer is accompanied by an incredible supporting cast, most notably Michelle Williams. Similar to Tilda Swinton’s character in Trainwreck, Williams is barely recognizable as the head of a makeup company, Avery LeClaire. Avery is a competent business woman, but constantly doubts herself as she is insecure about her high-pitched voice. The voice is over-the-top, but Williams plays the role with such sincerity that it feels genuine.
Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps play Renee’s best friends; however, they are unfortunately underused. Their characters are not really distinct from each other and they feel more like devices than actual characters. This is disappointing considering that both are such excellent comedic talents, but ultimately, there is already too much going on in the film to allow these two any moments to shine.
I Feel Pretty is exactly what its trailers advertise. It is not a raunchy, laugh-out-loud comedy but it is a comforting feel-good movie, with a message that is all too often disregarded. The film definitely could have greater focus, cutting down unimportant side characters and subplots, but as a star-vehicle it does show Schumer’s growth as an actress.
Grade: B