Skip to main content

Not So Hot Pursuit

This week’s movie from the limited choice of the lull between popular release weeks and holiday period was the Reece Witherspoon/Sophia Vigara road movie Hot Pursuit.  Now I went in not expecting much from this movie and well that’s pretty much what I got. 

The story is nothing new it’s a typical point A to point B movie with standard roadblocks along the way. 
  •       Bad Cops / Good ‘Overachiever’ Cop no one takes seriously
  •           Revenge plot
  •           Cinderella sub plot

I’ve seen Reece Witherspoon do a number of great movies (Cruel Intentions, The Man in the Moon, Walk the Line, Legally Blonde)  and some not so great ones (Vanity Fair, Four Christmases) this one goes in to the “Not so Great” Category. 

I usually like Witherspoon, she has great comic timing and can pull off a whole range of characters who at their core are all inherently likeable (Sweet Home Alabama) only this one was just well bland.  The accent she used was harsh and cold and didn’t suit her and the whole mini subplot of her going from being the laughing stock daughter of a cop to an admired officer with a ‘criminal’ boyfriend was too contrived.  

Vigara played the same character as her Modern Family TV show, playing on her sultry looks and trophy wife wardrobe.  Her story line; that of the criminal’s wife in witness protection with a case of heavily bedazzled shoes, holds no weight.  The relationship with Witherspoon’s character is flat and stunted and feels rather uncomfortable.  Even though there are attempts to connect the two characters the result is more periods of exposition rather than true empathy. 

Even the introduction of a love interest for Witherspoon’s character was dull and predictable pairing a by the book cop with a criminal with a good heart.  I spent more time invested in remembering where I’d seen the actor before than caring about the budding romance which was flat and humourless.  (By the way he used to be in Eastenders)

All in all I’ve seen worse movies but I’ve seen a lot better and I wouldn’t say my pennies were well spent on this night. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 Things I Love about "It's Okay to Not be Okay"

It's Okay to not be Okay, started this past weekend on Netflix and TVN, produced by Studio Dragon, Story TV and Goldmedalist, it is a Romantic Drama a a whimsical fairy tale twist, staring Kim Soo Hyun in his first TV drama since returning from military service and Seo Ye Ji of Lawless Lawyer. This is a show I've been looking forward to since it was announced and I have to say the pre show hype did not disappoint. So two episodes in, here are the ten things I love about this show so far; 1.  Burton esq Whimsey The show begins with a Tim Burton esq animation, reminiscent of the Corpse Bride and Nightmare before Christmas, with a twisted tale to match.  The dark fairy tale and graphic characters of the animation are carried through in to the illustrations of Ko Moon-young's (Seo Ye Ji) children's books I love how the animation isn't dark which makes some of its darker themes all the more impactful. It also sets up Ko Moon-young as a character bea...

On this Day

On this day, the 24 March 1944 my Grandfather Joseph Robinson climbed in to the small and cramped tail gunner post of his Lancaster Bomber with his crew. The Wedding of Joseph Robinson to Irene Baum  Joining the RAF when war broke out and worked his way up for Flgt. Sgt.  He had been flying for a year by this point.  Married one day shy of six weeks he lift his wife at home in his native Sunderland and returned to his squadron at Elsham Wood. Joe was ideal as a tail gunner, a strong man, a confident man but he was short enough and small enough to fit in to the plexi-glass turrets of Lancaster Bomber.  The problem with being a Tail-end Charlie, wasn't just the cramped conditions where many couldn't wear the parachutes or even boots if they wanted to fit in, neither was it the loneliness of being so far removed from the rest of the crew, but the real kicker would be if you needed to escape. The tail turrets while the most important defensive position c...

My Top 5 Korean Drama / Thrillers

I'm a huge drama fan be it movies, theatre or TV I love drama as a viewer and as a writer, I love immersing myself in other lives.  George RR Martin said 'A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once."  For me as a writer I get to live a thousand lives, as a reader a thousand more and as a drama lover who knows.  I always get excited when the autumn season of drama is due to start in the UK, there's always been something to look forward to building up to some great dramas in the winter months to curl up and become absorbed in.  But the dramas this past year were lacking for me and I needed something new to fill the void of lives I was missing out on. Netflix is always a great place for me to find something different, it replaced my love of the video store when that became a thing of the past.  Browsing the shelves and peaking at the inserts deciding which film I would spend my evening with.  I even worked in a ...