AFTER a run of disappointing movies, I’d honestly love to tell you that this week things are all hunky-dory again, but I’m afraid I somehow managed to unearth yet another stinker.
Hot Pursuit starts with a bit of a deft premise, and never really picks up from there.
Uptight, by-the-book cop, Rose Cooper (Witherspoon), wrongfully tases a kid for yelling ‘Shotgun!’ and is shoehorned into undertaking the most dead-end jobs at the police station.
Her latest menial task is to protect the attractive and manipulative widow (Vergara) of a drug boss as they race through Texas. Along the way, they’re pursued by murderous gunmen and a pair of dirty cops who pin a shootout on Cooper and her fiery cohort.
So, the movie is essentially a road trip with a variety of supposedly-funny situations that are ultimately as amusing as a flat tyre. Essentially, all the jokes boil down to Witherspoon being short and Vergara being Colombian. It doesn’t even sound funny on paper, never mind after it’s been drilled into your psyche for the 50th time.
It’s a sad state of affairs when these two talented actresses are literally reduced to the sum of their parts, which isn’t even part of the act. Worse yet, their characters have zero chemistry, and unlike most buddy comedies, their inevitable friendship doesn’t feel earned. That’s because they spend the entire movie bickering amongst themselves and they’re just plain unlikeable.
It’s disappointing to see Witherspoon attach herself to bottom-feeding stuff like this after her superb recent portfolio, such as Gone Girl. Why she’d even want to be associated with this film, which you know is going to be terrible before you even watch – a fact she would have known from reading the script – is a mystery.
However, to say that the film’s issues are solely script-related would be a disservice to the writers, as even bad scripts can be turned into something workable with a passionate cast, but sadly the acting is sub-par at best.
In parts, it seems like Witherspoon is really giving it her all – particularly during the action scenes – but most of the time she comes off as bored and disinterested. Meanwhile, Vergara brings little more than a self-entitled, feisty whine to proceedings.
The supporting cast is even worse, particularly the token love interest thrown in who provides the film’s only funny moments … which are when he can’t seem to decide whether he’s doing a southern Texan drawl or an Australian accent. They’re not even remotely similar, so how he mixes them up I don’t know, but it had be giggling at one point.
The bad cops are plain terrible. They act blandly evil with no hint of motivation or reasoning between them, so it’s literally like they’ve been told to think of the most stereotypical dirty cop they can think of and act like them.
Ultimately, Hot Pursuit is completely humourless, predictable and, at times, insulting. The film reflects poorly on everyone involved, particularly Witherspoon who should and does know better, and failed to remotely engage or challenge the audience
The best thing I can say about this movie is that it only runs for a merciful 87 minutes. Especially considering some of the hilarious buddy comedies that have been released recently, this film feels wholly vapid and unoriginal. Leave it in the dust.
