Summer is a time for vacations, frolicking in the sun, enjoying sandy beaches — and running for your life after being kidnapped. According to the new movie Snatched, one in four tourists will apparently be kidnapped while on vacation. As it turns out, the film’s main characters end up being two of those tourists. The film is noteworthy for signaling the return of actress Goldie Hawn to multiplexes.
Emily (Amy Schumer) has no direction in life. She’s focused on trying to project how amazing her life is, that she doesn’t realize she doesn’t have any friends and her relationship with her family is also strained. After suffering a devastating breakup on the eve of a vacation, Emily retreats home to her mother’s house.
Wanting to put the “fun” in non-refundable, Emily talks her mother (Hawn) into taking the trip to Ecuador with her. Like many mothers, Linda is a homebody who dedicated her life to raising her children and is weary of leaving the safe confines of her regular routine. Yet, she agrees to go, armed with copious amounts of suntan lotions, floppy hats, and trashy romance novels to keep her entertained at the resort. Meanwhile, Emily meets a sexy stranger and ends up dragging her mother on an excursion with him. It’s not long before Linda’s worst fears are realized and the women are being held for ransom, and, ultimately, having to fight for their lives.
With director Jonathan Levine (“Warm Bodies” and “50/50”) at the helm, the film stays grounded by the relationship of its two leads. The strained mother-daughter dynamic can be a tedious one to watch onscreen, but Levine handles it gently. Also helpful is the chemistry between the two leads. Both actresses seem to be having a ball together while making the film, which comes through in the moments touching on their onscreen relationship.
What is most disappointing about “Snatched” is that, for all of the girl power occurring on the screen, screenwriter Katie Dippold (who’s responsible for female-centric comedies like last year’s “Ghostbusters” reboot and “The Heat”) keeps having the women turn to men as their saviors. Throughout the movie both Linda and Emily demonstrate how capable they are at fending off the bad guys, especially after the men they turned to end up failing. Even with Ruth and her platonic best friend — though we think Wanda Sykes’ character doth protest too much about how friendly the pair actually is — who is a former special ops, they seem capable but then can’t figure out how to get off a moving truck. It’s a troubling portrayal in a movie that otherwise celebrates women, while providing some of the best comedic female roles in a while.
As entertaining as Schumer might be — and you can decide that for yourself, as she tends to be an acquired taste — she continues to the same type of role that she has portrayed in her stand-up routines and in “Trainwreck.” The film really belongs to Hawn, who has comes out of retirement for the role. Longtime fans of the icon will notice her digging into her bag of tricks that have been on display in other roles, but she hasn’t gotten rusty during the sabbatical. She is a joy to watch and absence has only made the heart grow fonder for the actress. Hopefully, she won’t wait as long before her next role.
Sykes, meanwhile, leads a supporting cast of scene stealers. Joan Cusack is as entertaining as ever in her (literally) muted role, while actor Bashir Salahuddin takes on the straight man role of the government agent who tries to bring the women back to safety and ends up with some of the best moments in the film. Making his performance even more impressive is that much of Salahuddin’s sceen time is spent alone in his office, playing off of Ike Barinholtz during phone conversations.
“Snatched” is an entertaining comedy that marries two generations of comediennes. The character driven comedy that Goldie Hawn became known for in the ’80s melds well with the more raunchy antics that Schumer is has become famous for performing. The joy of seeing Hawn in her onscreen return overshadows many of the flaws that the film suffers. There are some good laughs, but unlike many vacations, this won’t leave you wanting more when it’s time to go home.
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