THE STORY – Follows Jack, a fitness expert living with his mother in Los Angeles, who takes a maniacal swing at fame and fortune, pursuing his version of the American dream.
THE CAST – Vito Schnabel, Julia Fox, Steven Van Zandt, Beverly D’Angelo, Bella Thorne, Gina Gershon, Paris Hilton, Taylour Paige, Lenny Kravitz, Gayle King & Finneas O’Connor
THE TEAM – Tony Kaye (Director), Vito Schnabel & Jack Solomon (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 95 Minutes
There’s no way that anyone interested in checking out Tony Kaye’s latest feature, “The Trainer,” is remotely prepared for the enigma he has brought into the world. Kaye, who hasn’t made a feature since 2011’s “Detachment,” has finally graced his presence behind the camera once again, teaming up alongside multi-hyphenate Vito Schnabel, who feels like the true life force that infuses the chaos audiences are abrasively taken aback with as they spend a tediously amusing ninety-five minutes with what is the cinematic equivalent of having an aneurysm.
“The Trainer” follows muscle head and ambitious entrepreneur Jack Flex (played by Schnabel). Jack may be the worst person in the world, well, to the characters in this film who have to deal with him. Jack is a narcissistic liar with mommy issues, only interested in fueling his aspirations while wearing hilariously hideous tank tops (a “Bin-Laden is a Punk” is only one of many) and donning frosted tips like an early 2000s Brad Pitt. But like the great Achilles Pitt portrays in “Troy,” a film Jack idolizes, he wants to make a name for himself. Insert the Heavy Hat, a contraption that is helpful with fixing one’s posture while also aiding their potential fitness goals to transform their life. Is it true? Who knows? Probably not. That’s at least what Jack tells everyone as he spends the entire film desperately hawking his steely product to those willing (mostly unwilling) to listen to his incoherent sales pitch. What follows is an LSD IV drip of an odyssey, which is both a unique and tried exploration of the American dream. It’s not only one of the most bizarrely constructed films ever made, but a film whose badness slowly morphs into somewhat good so that it may honestly end with audiences rooting for it. Well, those who can finish it.
Maybe the sincerity of Schnabel’s performance pushes “The Trainer” to another level. It’s genuinely great work as Schnabel taps into the pathetic yet somewhat endearing energy that actors like Simon Rex in “Red Rocket” were able to convey perfectly. Schnabel brings such a manic energy into the film’s almost ADHD-fueled nature. They are inseparable, as Schnabel’s work in front of the camera and behind it are so obviously entangled with one another. It’s most likely what makes “The Trainer” have a steady momentum, even if it sometimes becomes grating. Even all of the supporting performances, which could be considered bad in various degrees, are assembled by an eccentric cast that not only pairs well with the consistency of the tone Kaye wishes to achieve but also fills this world with a variety of oddball personalities who all feel very distinctive. Whether it’s Steven Van Zandt as the out-of-shape Jewish businessman who bankrolls Jack, Julia Fox’s Bee, an assistant who becomes the woman of Jack’s dreams, or Lenny Kravitz, who plays a fictitious version of himself that Jack constantly harasses. There are so many cameos throughout “The Trainer” that it will make audiences question if they are having a fever dream, as each appearance only becomes laughably more noticeable.
There’s no way to describe best the wavelength Kaye’s and Schnabel’s are gliding on throughout the film. It’s an aesthetic that is solely singular while also coming off as a Harmony Korine knockoff vomiting anything and everything on screen. It is a stark departure from Kaye’s previous films, but maybe this was something that was bubbling underneath, waiting for the right time to pop out. Calling “The Trainer” bombastic would be an understatement, as it shoots for the stars in every way imaginable. It isn’t shocking if the film feels like an editing nightmare, considering four separate editors have their hands in the kitchen. Every imaginable effect is implemented, whether constant neon highlights tracing the outlines of every moving image, jarringly looped rewinds like a segment on “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” or the disjointed. Yet despite how nauseous the entire experience is, a rhythm is created even if it’s playing by its own illogical set of rules. To Kaye, rules are meant to be broken, especially if a feature was worthy enough to break him out of his fourteen-year hiatus from releasing a film.
The scattered-brain screenplay by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon is pure madness, as all its relatively standard plot elements are just bogged down by all these conflicting creative decisions that are desperate to infuse some sense of originality. Plenty of cringe-inducing dialogue, or frankly dialogue that makes no sense, is spouted by these characters as they are thrust into scenarios that seem to be outrageous purely for the sake of being outrageous. Relatively early into “The Trainer,” viewers’ brains will be scratching their heads every second that goes by as each scene is as unpredictable as the next, mainly with how it’s visually evolving in front of their eyes. This is a film that, for many, if not almost all of its viewers, will find failing to meet the criteria of what’s considered a good film. Yet it will undoubtedly be one of the most insane things someone could take time out of their day to watch. If there’s a rule film should always adhere to, it is never to be boring, something, whether people like it or not, “The Trainer” never actually becomes. It is undoubtedly a cinematic experience that is unlike any other that can be described as obnoxious (it is) and hilarious (for all the wrong reasons), yet unparalleled in keeping one’s attention, mainly in a landscape of moviegoers who have the attention span of a snail. One thing is for sure: “The Trainer” is an unforgettable film. Whether for good reasons or not, that is for audiences to decide.
