Amy (Amy Schumer) is a single girl living the life in Manhattan. Well trained into shunning monogamy by her offensive, lovable father (Colin Quinn) who a couple of decades ago abandoned Amy, her sister Kim and their mother, she works at a sleazy men’s magazine by day and is into some serious bed-hopping at night. She uses men as one does tissues, rumpling them into a ball and tossing them in a corner when she’s done. In the process, she—and viewers—meet some seriously weird types (pro-wrestler John Cena is one) but is not easily fazed as long as they service her and get the hell out (or she gets the hell out if the humping occurs at their place. The principle is to never spend the night with one of these interchangeable dicks, pun intended).

Then her S’Nuff editor, queen of mean Tilda Swinton, unrecognizable in do and makeup, sends Amy off to do a piece on a square, boring sports doctor named Aaron (Bill Hader.) Before you can say “pulled tendon” Amy has fallen for him and he with her, with all the appropriate angst, misunderstandings, hesitations, decisions, break-ups and make-ups associated with love stories. LeBron James is an unexpected and excellent surprise as Aaron’s sidekick.

The first hour or so of the film belongs to Amy Schumer to endow with the foul-mouthed, standing-gender-stereotypes-on-their-head, bird-flipping humor for which the comedian is known (she wrote the script). Then we’re jolted into Apatow territory and have to sit and groan through recycled rom-com material, finding that at two-something hours TRAINWRECK becomes way too long.

Actually, calling the movie TRAINWRECK was tempting the devil. This particular one is of course caused by Judd Apatow himself, yet another movie by the director who simply has to veer off tracks even when the going is smooth and fast as can be. Cliché inevitably follows cliché, from forlorn lovers each sitting in a park somewhere while soaring music pushes clouds above to faces lighting up with the revelation that they can’t live without each other.

But before we get there, we’re treated to some of the most hilarious scenes in cinema today. The sequence where Amy sits in a theater with her present sexual partner (pro wrestler John Cena) had me almost rolling on the floor. So did a number of other extremely funny bits—beside consistently brilliant dialogue—including the one about spooning with Aaron. Amy’s post-coital intimacy is basically a go-back-to-your-corner injunction. So she doesn’t want Aaron to hold her, she doesn’t want to feel his breath on her, she doesn’t want him close at all. She orders him to put a pillow between them but, attentive of the other guy, doesn’t want to inconvenience him. “Wait,” she politely inquires when he obeys. “Is that your main pillow?”

Despite these and other numerous laughs, TRAINWRECK was probably not worth the ticket price, especially if you are lucky enough to catch Amy Schumer in a live act near you.

The bad-ass John Cena with Amy Schumer