Verdict
Summary
Snatched has a few funny moments and it’s great to see Goldie Hawn on the big screen again but she deserves better.
Plot: When her boyfriend dumps her before their exotic vacation, a young woman persuades her ultra-cautious mother to travel with her to paradise, with unexpected results.
Review: Amy Schumer (Trainwreck) teams up with Hollywood legend Goldie Hawn (First Wives Club) in the new comedy, Snatched. This is the first film in almost 15 years that Goldie Hawn has starred in since 2002s “The Banger Sisters”, and I’m just putting this out there… I want more Goldie!
Amy’s character, Emily, is a train wreck. From being fired from her job, to being dumped by her rock star boyfriend, she just can’t catch a break. Emily convinces her mother, Linda (Hawn), to come on vacation with her to South America. Yet, their lovely resort vacation ends up as a trip from hell as they are literally “snatched” and imprisoned in a cell by their kidnappers.
Amy Schumer’s comedy, for me, is a hit or miss. Some jokes stick, some jokes don’t. That’s what I felt with this movie. Some jokes and scenes are hilarious, some scenes and jokes are a stretch for laughs. Some characters, like Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, and Joan Cusack, seem to be only added into the movie to try to inject some comedy into it, yet their humour doesn’t really work, and some could perceive them as annoying. I found most scenes with Ike Barinholtz extremely annoying and not needed, and took away from the overall story.
The movie suffers from having most of its funny moments in the trailer; I may have enjoyed the film more if I didn’t see everything in the trailer.
A huge criticism for this film is the underused comedic genius of Goldie Hawn. Hawn, who is known for her comedy for decades, felt underused and really only their as a mother figure for her two dysfunctional children. She does have some moments of comedy, but not really much more.
Beyond the goofiness of the movie, at the film’s centre is heart. The message is simple: Your parents are always going to be there for you, no matter how many times you screw up. We get to see this message play out with Schumer and Hawn, which somewhat redeems the film in the end.
If you’re looking for a comedy, you’ll find some humour in this film. It’s not a movie for everyone, but something to consider this Mother’s Day.