Movie date: Hot Pursuit
For the guys, the combination of Vergara and Witherspoon could be hot. For the girls, it’s likely not.
STARRING: Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara
DIRECTOR: Anne Fletcher
THE SKINNY: No-nonsense Texan cop Cooper (Witherspoon) is entrusted with escorting and protecting Daniella Riva (Vergara), whose mob boss husband is planning to testify against a Mexican cartel kingpin in Dallas. But when Riva finds herself suddenly widowed, she becomes the cartel’s prime target. Cooper and Riva end up on the run from both the bad guys and crooked cops.
RATING: NC16
THE CONSENSUS: For the guys, the combination of Vergara and Witherspoon could be hot. For the girls, it’s likely not.
MARS
Hot Pursuit has received some terrible reviews and had a very poor opening weekend at the US box office.
It's what they call a bomb so I had very low expectations for the flick.
Surprisingly, I came out of the theatre enjoying it - owning up to one's bad taste is just so liberating.
The comedy isn't what you'd call sophisticated and the story is dopey as heck, but Witherspoon and Vergara are wonderful company.
While the cliche about pretty girls not being funny is mostly true, these two are obvious exceptions.
Vergara radiates good humour and Witherspoon is a natural goofball.
The jokes that come out of their mouths aren't always funny, but the way they interact is charming.
Or maybe I'm just hypnotised by their combined hotness.
Vergara's face is so foxy she hardly seems real, and her body is THE body.
Witherspoon is a corn-fed daisy peach - fresh, juicy and golden.
Cleavage is perhaps the main theme of Hot Pursuit, and I'm cool with that.
As for actual laughs, my favourite scene is the one where Cooper (Witherspoon) accidentally gets a sniff of cocaine and goes batty.
I had a good time, and so did the two women sitting behind me. What are the odds that three people in one theatre would be so dumb?
JASON JOHNSON
Rating: 3/5
VENUS
Is it really that hard to make a female-driven comedy?
There is so much potential here but director Fletcher resorts to dated slapstick stunts.
It's even more appalling as she's no stranger to fun, popcorn entertainment, having directed Step Up (2006), 27 Dresses (2008) and The Proposal (2009).
Witherspoon and Vergara also wear producer hats.
So with all these women in control, why is Hot Pursuit so one-dimensional?
It had the makings of a sure-fire hit - that only existed on paper perhaps.
Vergara's comic timing is always spot on. Witherspoon also shows she's equally adept at comedy as she is with drama.
Yet, when you put two of them together, what you get is strained humour.
There are some gems, but mostly the jokes are so contrived that it becomes painful to watch, like that one scene where their characters quarrel in Spanish.
Most of the jokes revolve around Daniella making fun of Cooper's tiny size, moustache or looking like a boy, while Cooper goes on about how clueless Daniella is because she's just a hot, trophy wife.
In this day and age where we are increasingly exposed to smart female buddy comedies like Bridesmaids and The Heat, why are such female stereotypes still being churned out?
JOANNE SOH
Rating: 2/5
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