Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn
Intro:
Hawn and Schumer’s chemistry sizzles...
Amy Schumer fans rejoice, Snatched heralds her long-awaited second feature following 2015’s successful debut, Trainwreck. Teaming up with comedy icon Goldie Hawn, Snatched sees Schumer as Emily Middleton, a New Yorker who’s going through a bit of a tough time, the only good things in her life being her musician boyfriend and their impending Ecuadorian getaway. So, when the boyfriend ditches her right before their “non-refundable” trip, she decides to take her single, homebody mother Linda (Hawn) to South America in an attempt to get her to have fun like she used to when she was younger – of course, that all goes out the window when the two are kidnapped, leading to an impressive series of mishaps as they try to make their way home, reconnecting as mother and daughter along the way.
Hawn and Schumer’s chemistry sizzles as they traverse the South American jungle, with so many jokes flying between them that many are bound to land, even if only for a smile; the film in general hums with a great humorous energy. What makes these two comedic actors so individually funny is also why they work so well together: while most of the bigger antics revolve around Schumer’s awkward Emily, Hawn helps stick the smaller one-liners, enabling everyone around her to be just as funny as she is in the moment. Their dramatic chemistry as mother and daughter is also wonderful; Snatched deals with heartfelt ideas about being a parent and eventually having to let go, and while the script isn’t as adept at this as, say, last year’s Bad Moms, Schumer and Hawn manage to flesh out this great relationship and it really makes them feel like family.
Speaking of family, Snatched is filled out with a hilarious supporting cast that, at some points, even steal the show. Ruth (Wanda Sykes) and her “platonic friend” Barb (a mute Joan Cusack) contribute some of the best antics in the entire movie, and Ike Barinholtz’s agoraphobic Jeffrey and his back-and-forth with government worker Morgan Russell (Bashir Salahuddin) leads to some of the film’s stand-out moments. Whilst not the most complex of comedies, Snatched never stops having fun for its entire runtime, giving us some great Amy Schumer belly laughs and Goldie Hawn’s first film in the last fifteen years. If anything, that’s worth the ticket price alone.
