Snatched: Movie Review

The pairing of Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn as mother and daughter seems like the makings of comedy gold, especially in a film helmed by Jonathan Levine who brought us hugely underrated titles like “The Wackness”, “50/50”, and “Warm Bodies”.   The big difference between his latest film and those others is that they were a mix of comedy/drama and “Snatched” is more of a broad comedy.  “If you have seen 2015’s “The Night Before”, then you know Levine doesn’t excel at straight comedy.

Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) is having a bad day.  Aside from being fired from her job, she has also just been dumped by her musician boyfriend (Randall Park).  To make matters worse, she booked a trip for two to South America and the vacation is non-refundable. With none of her friends wanting to go on the trip, Emily talks her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) into going.  Linda lived an exciting, fun filled life as a young woman but after having her children, she became fearful of the world around her and pretty much just stayed at home.  Emily’s brother Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz) also has his own issues about leaving the home.

If you have seen the trailers for “Snatched” then you know that Emily and Linda get kidnapped and they must find their way through the Amazon after escaping their captors.  “Snatched” is a lazy comedy that does not utilize its’ stars properly. For example, how do you cast Joan Cusack in your film and then make her a mute? Granted, the film’s best joke comes from why she doesn’t speak. Cusack is best when she actually has dialogue. Sure, there can be an argument that casting Wanda Sykes as her partner might be too much but those two talented women could have really given us some real gold instead of being just mildly amusing.

I really wanted to love “Snatched”, mainly because Goldie has been away from the big screen for way too long, but she deserves a much better comeback then this.

By: Marc Ferman