Energetic Witherspoon Enlivens an Otherwise Leaden Pursuit
Officer Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is as by the book as they come, a rigidly uptight law enforcement professional who has been chosen to assist in the transportation of a pair of important witnesses, Felipe Riva (Vincent Laresca) and his diva of a wife Daniella (Sofía Vergara). They are going to appear in the case against drug lord Vincente Cortez (Joaquín Cosio), and as no one who has ever turned against him has ever shown up at trial, Cooper feels an immense surge of pride, as well as a moderate amount of fear, at the task sitting before her.
Things go wrong. Felipe Riva is dead, and so is the DEA agent in charge of the transport. Cooper and Daniella find themselves suddenly on the run, being chased by a pair of crooked cops (Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley) as well as learning they’ve been framed for the blood-splattered carnage back at the latter’s estate. To say these two don’t get along would be an understatement, the driven officer insistent she’ll get her charge to the court house in time for trial, while the supposed witness isn’t exactly keen on showing up to testify. But one needs the other in order to survive, and if they don’t put their mutual distrust and suspicions on hold the chances either will make it to the end of the journey still breathing is in serious doubt.
Hot Pursuit isn’t a particularly good movie. Writers David Feeney and John Quaintance cut their teeth on sitcoms like “New Girl” and “Ben & Kate” and it shows, their screenplay not exactly a deep or complex affair trying to be anything more than what it appears to be on the surface. The characters are who they are right from the start and don’t change all that much as things progress, everything building to a foregone conclusion that’s frustratingly obvious. It’s purposefully silly, strictly one dimensional and is intent on going for the easy laugh, the only thing missing are commercial breaks and a laugh track, otherwise its television roots are apparent on every frame.
Yet, mostly thanks to Witherspoon, the film is hardly a disaster, and there were a good three instances where the humor is sensational enough for me to feel relatively okay to forgive the comedy for a number of its shortcomings. The Oscar winner has a bona fide extended moment of genius as she deals with the repercussions of breathing in an entire cloud of a substance Daniella coyly refers to as “baking powder,” the manic go-for-broke energy she exhibits during this stretch bordering on hysterical. She’s also got some great bits of verbal and physical wit involving a dear costume and the noises the animals make in the wild, while her chemistry with Vergara is apparent from the first moment the two come into contact.
On the flip side, as enthusiastic as Vergara might be, as great a companion for Witherspoon as she is, the simple truth is the talented actress isn’t doing anything more than her typical “Modern Family” shtick as the fast-talking, quick-witted Daniella Riva. While that’s fine, per se, it’s also a little disappointing, the Emmy-winner having showcased some pretty serious, nicely understated three-dimensional chops in other projects, most recently in Jon Favreau’s Chef just last year. There’s nothing about this performance that electrifies, that grabs hold, and while she does generate a handful of minor laughs, she just as certainly doesn’t do a thing that stands out or proves to be anything close to memorable in the same way her captivating costar does.
It does not help that the film is noticeably lazy, director Anne Fletcher not showcasing anything close to the same confident visual stability of past features like Step Up and The Proposal. It’s rather haphazardly put together by typically reliable editor Priscilla Nedd-Friendly (American Pie), while there is a flat, unappealing static frankness to cinematographer Oliver Stapleton’s (The Cider House Rules) compositions that’s oddly off-putting. Everyone involved has done better work, no question, the technical facets so below par the overall impact is rather frustrating.
But I still find it difficult to rustle up much in the way of disgust for this. As anemic as portions and aspects might be, this Midnight Run meets Miss Congeniality meets The Heat hybrid is hardly as disastrous as it maybe should be. Witherspoon is on fire, putting the entire production on her svelte shoulders as if she were Atlas carrying the weight of the world up an unending hill, the actress (who also produces) doing way more for the film than it does for her. Not great, not terrible, maybe just a bit better than okay, Hot Pursuit isn’t going to win any awards or be remembered in any great detail by those who see it, true, but as mid-afternoon diversions go it’s hardly the worst I’ve ever seen, and I imagine those already excited to give it a look will hardly hate themselves for doing so.
Review reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle
Film Rating: 2 ½ (out of 4)
