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.
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