As we come to the end of the week, a slew of new films hit our cinemas. One of those films is Snatched, a comedy starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn. The premise of Snatched is simple, mother Linda (Hawn) and daughter Emily (Schumer) decide to take a vacation together. The daughter is on it to get over her breakup with her boyfriend and the mother is on it so she can get out of her house and not get eaten by the many cats she takes care of. Unfortunately, one thing leads to another and Emily and Linda are kidnapped, and an adventure of hilarity in Ecuador ensues as they try to escape their captors and survive the wilds of Ecuador.
When I try to articulate my feelings of Snatched several films come to mind, We Are The Millers, White Chicks, and Identity Thief. What these all have in common with Snatched is the crassness of the comedy, the annoying leads, the ridiculous supporting cast and one major common thread – they are all guilty pleasures. What works for Snatched is the ridiculousness of its story and the reactionary acting of its lead characters. Watching Schumer and Hawn react to being kidnapped, to accidentally killing people and other unmentionables is entertaining. My best description of the comedy is when you watch one of those videos where someone falls and hurts themselves, and you can’t help but laugh. It’s not the most well-written comedy, and the jokes don’t always land but when they do you can’t help but fall into a fit of giggles. There are also a number of oddball characters that litter Snatched, and they’re all memorable, my personal favourite was Roger played by the awesome Christopher Meloni. He’s a rugged outdoorsman who supposedly knows the jungles of Ecuador like the back of his hand. He has some of the best dialogue in the entire film and his comedic timing is top notch.
The problem with the film, however, is the two leads. Unless you like Schumers style of comedy you’ll be at a loss to laugh as the majority of the jokes are in her comedic wheelhouse. Though she does have an excellent rapport with Hawn, they are still very shrill and at times obnoxious, coming across as the worst American stereotypes in a foreign land. I will say though when they’re by themselves interacting and working out their grievances there is a clear and surprisingly deep love that many parents and children will likely connect with.
Surrounding Emily and Linda in their adventure is the lush backdrop of Ecuador, and the country looks great, but there are a surprisingly large number of scenes that have CGI environments. And the blatantly obvious CGI took me completely out of the film and usually in a movie like Snatched CGI should be the last thing on a director’s mind when it should be a character driven story.
Ultimately Snatched is a film to see at home with family, watching with your mom drinking wine and laughing at the similarities you may see with the bond between the two main characters. Just don’t go in expecting Snatched to revolutionise the industry because you will be sorely disappointed.