HOT PURSUIT (2015) – The Review

The superheroes started the Summer with a bang (and a pow and lotsa’ crashes) last Friday, so it’s now time for what is turning out to be another warm weather cinema staple: the female-driven, often raunchy comedy, which can probably be traced back to the surprise smash of 2011, BRIDESMAIDS. Its breakout star, Melissa McCarthy, then became the unofficial queen of Summer R-rated gagfests with THE HEAT and TAMMY. So, is this the 2015 model MM comedy? Nope, we’ve got a few weeks to go before she reteams with director Paul Feig for SPY (also to premiere shortly is the feature film debut of cable TV firebrand Amy Schumer). This is an attempted funny flick that riffs on one of her previous hits. It’s an action-cop-buddy-comedy which pairs an Oscar-winning actress (like Sandra Bullock in THE HEAT) with funny lady mostly known for her broadcast TV work (Melissa still continues to co-star on “Mike and Molly” on CBS). No, only one of the women carries a badge, but can lightning strike again when they (along with folks at Warner Brothers/New Line) are in HOT PURSUIT (of big box office bucks)?

Perky, petite blonde Texas police officer Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) has wanted to be on the force after spending most of her childhood seating in the back seat of her beloved daddy’s patrol car. But things haven’t quite gone according to her plan. After a disastrous taser incident, she’s been stuck in the station evidence room. But one day that all changes. She’s been assigned to help transport the star witness in the case against drug kingpin Vincente Cortez, to testify in Dallas. Actually she’ll be with the star witness’s wife (law requires a female officer to tend to the missus). Cooper along with a seasoned veteran detective arrive an hour early to the estate of Cortez’s accountant Felipe Riva. When Cooper joins the quick-tempered Mrs. Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergara) in order to finish up her extensive packing (they’ll soon go right into the witness protection program), they hear gunfire from downstairs. The men are under attack from two different pairs of gunmen (one duo sports Mexican wrestling masks and longhorn wrist tattoos). After Cooper’s partner and Felipe are struck down, she jumps into the Cadillac convertible (with cowering Daniella and her huge suitcase) and hits the road while the bullets zip past. Cooper is determined to bring Daniella to testify in Dallas, but she soon learns that many of her brothers in blue are on the take. The squabbling pair also discover that they’re wanted fugitives and must dodge the authorities and mob hitmen as they race to the courthouse in the big “D”.

Witherspoon’s Cooper is a mix of her own Tracy Flick (with that ruthless ambition sanded away) from ELECTION, Sandra Bullock in THE HEAT, Will Ferrel in THE WRONG GUYS, and Holly Hunter in RAISING ARIZONA. The big problem is that Cooper’s character is not as funny or endearing as any of them. Her comedic skills nearly match her dramatic chops (just watch deft turn in the aforementioned Payne classic or the underrated FREEWAY), but with little to work with here, she constantly reverts to an exaggerated pout and alternating between exasperated squeals and barking out police jargon (“We got a 10-15, 2-20, a…”) like a yipping poodle. And this before she gets doused with cocaine in another predictable tiresome sequence. It’s no wonder that a dinner date runs frantically away from her in an early scene (you may want to join him soon after). Vergara doesn’t fare much better. Her breakthrough TV role of Gloria Pritchett on “Modern Family” was an amusing component of the ensemble, but now there’s no Jay or Cam to cut to. In other words, this similar character quickly becomes grating and shrill (really, how many times must she burst into wailing banshee screams? til it’s funny?). Also overused are her malaprops and mispronounciations, which make her seem to be the spawn of “Mexican spitfire” Lupe Velez and Ricky Ricardo. A third act dramatic switch never really works, either. The gals pick up a helpful hunk named Randy (Robert Kanzinsky) along the way, but he only exists for eye candy (perhaps to offset Daniella’s plunging necklines) and to humanize Cooper. Superb character actor John Carroll Lynch is saddled with the thankless cliché role of Cooper’s apoplectic police captain boss while gifted stand-up comics Jim Galligan and Mike Birbiglia are squandered as a thick-headed “good ole’ boy” and Cooper’s fleeing date, respectively.

Director Anne Fletcher fights desperately to try to make the leaden script (hmm, it took two fellas to come up with this?) work, but there’s no way to polish this (rhymes with bird). The leads scream, flail, and fall over while drowning under a non-stop bog of zany music and pop tunes because Heaven forbid there should be a quiet moment. All the gags are rendered in quick edits until a deadly bit in which the women pretend to be lovers. The only relief from the frenetics is when the flick goes into slow-motion mode complete with chintzy 70’s era porn muzak. There’s some skirting around an R-rating with a meandering riff on “lady parts bibniz”, but this is a fairly safe after Brunch Mom’s Day outing (she might think it’s a hoot) since the gunplay is fairly bloodless (like an old episode of “Police Woman”). But really, there are better, female-friendly flicks for your matriarch, because HOT PURSUIT isn’t even close to lukewarm. And these talented women are capable of much better films. 6,2,and-even, over and out!

1 Out of 5