Comedies today have fallen prey to banal, toilet-humor, pratfall vehicles that are basically made to pacify those out there that want a cheap fix humorously. Certainly comedies can be physical and can be fluff and still be written and acted with finesse and respect. There have been so many comedies produced in the last 10-15 years that match the aforementioned description that the list would be endless, however "Snatched", albeit not an academy award quality film, was certainly funny with appreciative timing from its lead stars.
After her boyfriend, Michael (Randall Park) dumps her on the eve of their exotic vacation to Ecuador, impetuous dreamer Emily Mittleton (Amy Schumer) persuades her ultra-cautious mother, Linda (Goldie Hawn) to travel with her to paradise, especially after everyone else turned Emily down when asked to go with her. Polar opposites, Emily and Linda realize that working their differences as mother and daughter-- in unpredictable, hilarious fashion-- is the only way to escape the wildly outrageous jungle adventure they have fallen into. Through Emily's brother, Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz), a U.S. government official Morgan Russell (Bashir Saladuddin), and two fellow American tourists, Ruth (Wanda Sykes) and Barb (Joan Cusack), can all these well-intentioned individuals save this mother and daughter before the abductors do them in?
Others to round out the cast are Tom Bateman as James, Oscar Jaenada as Morgado, Christopher Meloni as Roger Simmons, Pedro Haro as Maco and Raven Goodwin as Lew.
This was directed with note worthy timing by Jonathan Levine ("All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" '06, "The Wackness" '08, "50/50" '11, "Warm Bodies" '13, "The Night Before" '15) plus TV and shorts. Of course, Hawn has amazing comic timing and given better roles, Schumer could prove to us of her timing as well. Each of Levine's films seem to get stronger as he progresses, so I'll be interested in seeing what he has in store for us next. It was written by Katie Dippold ("The Heat" '13, "Ghostbusters" '16) plus TV. As with Dippold's other films, this film was certainly written better than I expected, not that it was executed well, but as compared to the other banal comedies out there today, this was a breath of fresh air. "The Heat" was mostly funny with great chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, and "Ghostbusters, although had some problems, held its own without leaning on the original at all, in fact it was better than the original. I went to see this because of Hawn. Her timing and delivery is priceless. And although this wasn't one of her best efforts, it certainly was a joy to see her in another comedy indeed. Her best films, in my opinion, are "Private Benjamin" and "Death Becomes Her". These were the pinnacle of her career. Dippold definitely has a future in Hollywood, if for no other reason than to write better physical, fratfall comedies than what we normally are subjected to. Certainly with more experience, Dippold will improve and maybe, just maybe, a good new comedy writer will be born. Her next film "The Heat 2" has been announced, so we'll see.
As comedies go, this was a film that is more funny than not, but if you like Hawn's comedic timing, this should fit the bill. But if you don't want to venture out to the multiplex, this would be a good flick to Netflix and have a great time at home.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: R 90mins.
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