Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon and “Modern Family”‘s Sofia Vergara team-up for the action comedy “Hot Pursuit”. It’s such a cliche considering the title, but this really is one hot mess.
Witherspoon, complete with an annoying southern accent, plays Cooper, a Texas police officer. She’s a plucky, non-stop talker who hasn’t been out in the field since she tazed (and set on fire) the son of a mayor over a wacky misunderstanding. But now she’s been asked to escort the wife of a drug trial witness to Dallas so she can also testify.
Things get complicated fast when Cooper and a fellow officer arrive at the mansion of Mr. and Mrs. Riva and within minutes, two different sets of gunmen show-up and open fire. Cooper barely escapes with the loud and flamboyant Mrs. Riva (played by Vergara). They’re now on the run – wanted by the bad guys and the bad cops. Will this unlikely pair make it to Dallas by morning without getting caught and killed? Of course, with a premise like this, it’s not going to be easy.
“Hot Pursuit” is directed by “The Proposal”‘s Anne Fletcher. I wasn’t a huge fan of that 2009 rom-com, but I’d sit through it a couple more times before going anywhere near this film again. The first half does have a handful of random, chuckle-worthy one-liners. But then the over-the-top gags and goofy situations start piling-up, including a guy shooting-off his own finger and Witherspoon then giving a dog the Heimlich because she thought he swallowed it.
As terrible as that scene is, nothing comes close to the escapade on a senior citizen tour bus, which is so flat-out ridiculous that I’m stunned the writers thought people would actually find it entertaining. At least “Hot Pursuit” is only 87 minutes, though it would’ve simply been a half-hour sitcom pilot if not for all the tiresome, double-crossing/triple-crossing, “Let me explain” scenes.
Vergara can be very funny in small doses on TV, but here proves she can’t handle a co-leading film role. As for Witherspoon, going from career-high work in “Wild” to an embarrassing role like this is a shame. However, she does provide the true gem of the film in the closing credits outtakes. She delivers a line, but that take can’t be used because a crew member quickly tells her she has to check something. Witherspoon responds, “God, I was giving the performance of a lifetime” and sarcastically laughs out loud. I did the same thing.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Hot Pursuit” gets a D.
Running Time: 87 min.