IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jensen) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review
I Feel Pretty [2018] (cowritten and codirected by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein) is a fun / positive comedy of the Melissa McCarthy, yes, Amy Schumer vein (the latter starring in this film as its "we've all been there" average yet again "that's what we all are" heroine). And judging audience, composed mostly of smiling and at times _beaming_ 20-30-something women, where I saw the film, it succeeds, often in spades ;-).
Amy Schumer plays Renee a 20 something Queens / Brooklyn New Yorker who eats, speaks, and dreams like a 20-something Queens / Brooklyn New Yorker -- she could _easily_ (!) be a parishioner at any place where I've ever served -- and yet, of course, dreams of being (and feels somewhat cheated that she isn't) the feather-light, yet still somehow curvy, supermodel who she sees displayed on the packaging of the cosmetics that she buys and the "fashion" / "women's magazines" that she reads.
Her wannabe dreaming has her working for "Lily LeClair" (a fictionalized Coco Chanel) cosmetics / mostly women's fashion company. But since she doesn't necessarily fit the corporate image, instead of working at the company's 5th Avenue HQ, she along with another quite frumpy looking guy (played by Adrian Martinez) works "IT" for the company out of a random second story apartment somewhere in nearby Chinatown ;-).
Running some papers over to HQ "because the servers were down," she discovers that the company is looking for a new receptionist -- arguably "the face" of the company. And though as an IT person she probably gets 2-3-4x the salary that a receptionist would, it just gets in her head that _this_ is the job that she'd really want, 'cept ... she looks ... like a regular person, as opposed to a supermodel.
Well ... inspired through watching the rerun of the delightful Tom Hanks comedy, Big [1988], she runs out, in the midst of "a dark and stormy night" and throws a coin into a nearby fountain asking to become "pretty" and ... after getting a knock on the head in the midst of a simultaneously goofy / horrific, cornball-ish accident (that could only happen to "a regular person" like you / me) she wakes up and ...the rest of the story follows ... ;-)
It's not much of a spoiler to tell the audience that, of course, Renee doesn't _become_ "pretty" SHE JUST THINKS SHE HAS ... ;-) -- this is already shown in the film's trailers. But the film then challenges Viewers to ask themselves what "beauty" actually is, and how much of it really is just a state of mind. And the story to its credit also shows a bit of the "ugliness" of "beauty" ... Renee begins to feel entitled to treat some of her past friends (played by Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps) with disdain.
Anyway, the film reminds us that "beauty" in large part, and on _a surprising number of levels_, truly comes "from within." Great / fun story!
A final note to parents, I do believe that the PG-13 rating is ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE to the film. There is no bad language and though much of its thematics is about being "body beautiful" the film is remarkably discrete in what it shows: while much is implied, often with humor, _nothing_ is actually shown. It's a film that a 13 year old could see, not be tempted and ... understand. Again, excellent job!
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