Director: Jonathan Levine
By Alex Watson
Despite a promising pairing in Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer, Snatched is decidedly low on humour. Never quite managing to find a steady rhythm, director Jonathan Levine goes too hard for belly laughs. The result is a rather dry and tasteless comedy that seems to milk its 'idiot abroad' scenario. While Schumer and Hawn together elevate this comedy slightly, this alone cannot make the film memorable.
Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) is a directionless New Yorker who has just been dumped by her boyfriend on the eve of their holiday to Ecuador. Facing a non-refundable trip and no takers, Emily turns to her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) to accompany her. At first, their holiday feels like a perfect paradise, until one day when the pair are kidnapped by notorious criminal Morgado (Oscar Jaenada).
Jonathan Levine never seems sure where to channel the laughs in Snatched. The plot sets up the big differences between irresponsible, fun-loving Emily and the button-down, overly cautious Linda. The early scenes of them together have a nice silliness to them- mother put comments on social media she doesn't know are public. When they arrive in Ecuador the film blows hot and cold. Though Linda mistaking 'welcome' as 'whale cum' is worthy of a giggle. Ignoring the warnings of chatterbox Ruth (Wanda Sykes) and mute ex-special forces lady Barb (Joan Cusack), Emily engages in an obvious honey trap with handsome James (Tom Bateman). When the pair is kidnapped, this is where the rot begins to set in.
Escaping their captors and running through the jungle, soon the picture jumps from one ridiculous scenario to another. The subplot of their man-child brother/son Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz) repeatedly calling the US State Department feels far too drawn out. Likewise, the pair meeting Indiana Jones wannabe explorer Roger (Christopher Meloni) feels like an unnecessary addition they threw in at the last minute. With the number of captures that occur in this region of the world, Levine could have made much more of the potential threat. Instead what we are given are a pair that seems to successful bluff their way through one implausible situation after another. Throw in some cookie cutter South American baddies and you have yourself a formulaic comedy.
Snatched is a picture that should be all about mother-daughter bonding, strangely that element feels absent. Throughout the pair squawk at each other and lament how wrong this adventure has gone. This quickly grows thin and as they repeatedly dodge bullets, the film becomes more concerned with the next outrageous scenario than bringing them closer. Emily is a character who is like an overgrown child, she is drastically underwritten and by the end of the movie we don't feel like she has gone through any big change. What could have been an excellent and quirky fish-out-of-water adventure instead decides to fall back on a series of lifeless gags.
Together Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn look the part of mother and daughter, but together the chemistry just doesn't sparkle. Hawn does well as the uber-neurotic Linda and the bulk of the film's early laughs come from her comedic timing. After a 12 year hiatus, it's good to see her back. Although Schumer does make the most of her likeable goofy appeal, Emily just feels like a less successful version of her character in Trainwreck. While Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack do provide some side jokes, their inclusion doesn't feel entirely necessary.
Snatched is a movie that could have been far funnier and despite a strong pairing, it's just another by the numbers comedy.
