‘Hot Pursuit’ Review: Witherspoon And Vergara Team Up
Hot Pursuit begins with a montage of Reese Witherspoon’s character, Cooper, we watch her go from a little girl, sitting in the back seat of her father’s police car alongside the likes of a drunk Santa and a transvestite, to a senior in high school, where her father drives her to the prom.
Suddenly, Cooper is an adult cop, chasing a man on foot in busy street traffic. We find out soon after that this was her blind date from Christian Mingle, who left after Cooper put her gun on the table during the date. Cooper is very uptight and extremely strict.
Her next job is to escort a husband and wife to Dallas with help from a federal marshal, where they will testify against a known drug kingpin.
The wife Mrs. Riva (Sofia Vergara of Modern Family) is a wealthy woman whose husband is the accountant and chief money smuggler for the defendant. When Cooper and the marshal arrive at the house, two teams of assassins attack, killing the federal marshal and the husband.
Cooper and Mrs. Rive escape. This is followed by the writers making it seem as if craziness ensues in Hot Pursuit, which it does not.
In Hot Pursuit, Vergara and Witherspoon possess fabulous comedic timing, so there are a few funny moments in Hot Pursuit. There are other moments where the dialogue is too stupid to be considered funny. The writing team took advantage of Vergara’s thick accent, which got boring very quickly, since we see it every week in Modern Family.
There comedic intention could have worked if they could have been made up for with decent pacing and a little energy.
Director Anne Fletcher has done very solid work in the past, she directed The Proposal and 27 Dresses, as well as the first installment in the Step Up series. Fletcher is also a famed choreographer, having choreographed Boogie Nights and Hairspray. Movement and timing are supposed to be her forte, this is not exemplified in Hot Pursuit.
USA Today’s Claudia Puig declared Hot Pursuit as “this week’s ‘Paul Blart.’ Which is to say, it’s ill-conceived, not funny, overbearing and not in any way worth watching.”
Witherspoon was joined in this film by her niece, Abby James, who plays a younger version of her.
“My niece Abby James Witherspoon plays me in the movie,” Witherspoon tells People. “It was so cute.”
They look so alike, as do Reese and her 15-year-old daughter, Ava Witherspoon, which is showcased by Inquisitr.
The only upside to this film, is seeing Reese Witherspoon back in comedies. Still, more was expected from a film starring a recently Oscar-nominated actress in her work in Wild and an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress.
Final Rating: 4/10
[Image Source: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
