Snatched - Movie Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

It doesn't really matter that the script for this lively action-comedy is paper thin: teaming up Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn on-screen is a stroke of genius. These two comic actresses have impeccable timing, and throw everything into this madcap jungle adventure. Yes, the dialogue could have been a lot sharper, the story more coherent and the themes more resonant. But as a guilty pleasure, it's a lot of fun.

It opens as Emily (Schumer) decides to continue with her plans to take a luxury holiday in Ecuador, even though she's just split from her boyfriend (Randall Park). Although taking her mother Linda (Hawn) wasn't her first choice. As they settle in at the beach resort, they meet Ruth (Wanda Sykes) and her ex-military friend Barb (Joan Cusack), who warn them about gangs of drug dealers who kidnap tourists. Sure enough, Emily and Linda are grabbed by Colombian criminal Morgado (Oscar Jaenada) and taken to the Amazon, where they escape and go on the run with the help of a rugged but pompous explorer (Christopher Meloni). Meanwhile back in America, Emily's oddball brother (Ike Barinholtz) is pestering a government official (Bashir Salahuddin) to find his missing mother and sister.

Instead of working out a clever story or writing something witty, the filmmakers rely instead on the skills of Schumer and Hawn. This leaves the movie feeling like a series of random set-pieces in which the actresses improvise a lot of goofiness, which is shaped into something vaguely sensible in the edit. The overall narrative is flimsy at best, but there are hilarious moments scattered through every scene, and Schumer and Hawn thankfully underplay most of it.

Their mother-daughter interaction is engaging and sometimes emotionally resonant, and the physical nuttiness is relatively grounded. Schumer's shock-value gags and Hawn's full-bodied energy are easily enough to keep the audience chuckling. And Sykes and Cusack are also amusing in their silly roles. While Barinholtz, Meloni and Salahuddin shine as more broadly comical characters.

If writer Katie Dippold (The Heat) and director Jonathan Levine (The Night Before) had added just a bit of subtext, this might have been a comedy classic. Instead, they completely ignore the possibilities of the Americans-abroad premise, pushing the easy vulgarity and simplistic emotions. They also indulge in rather a lot of deadly violence for no real reason. That said, the chemistry between Schumer and Hawn is so entertaining that we hope to see them together on-screen again, perhaps in a film with a bit more edge than this one.

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Facts and Figures

Year: 2017

Genre: Comedy

Run time: 73 mins

In Theaters: Thursday 18th May 2017

Production compaines: 20th Century Fox, Chernin Entertainment, Rovio Entertainment, Feigco Entertainment

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3.5 / 5

IMDB: 6.5 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Jonathan Levine

Producer: Paul Feig, Peter Chernin, Jessie Henderson, Jenno Topping

Screenwriter: Katie Dippold

Starring: Amy Schumer as Emily Middleton, Goldie Hawn as Linda Middleton, Tom Bateman as James, Christopher Meloni as Roger Simmons, Wanda Sykes as Ruth, Ike Barinholtz as Jeffrey Middleton, Óscar Jaenada as Morgado, Randall Park as Michael, Joan Cusack as Barb, Raven Goodwin as Lew, Arturo Castro as Dr. Armando, Bashir Salahuddin as Morgan Russell, Nicholas J. Lockwood as Jacob, Pedro Haro as Maco, Katie Dippold as Shopper, Kim Caramele as Shopper

Also starring: Oscar Jaenada, Paul Feig, Jenno Topping