SNATCHED

Emily (Schumer) is directionless, jobless and now boyfriendless, just before an impending, non-refundable holiday to Ecuador. Deciding to take her sheltered, meddlesome mum Linda (Hawn) along for the trip because no one else will go with her, the pair get off to a shaky start when the overly cautious Linda refuses to do anything fun, and that’s all Emily wants to do. Forcing Linda to come out with a man Emily just met, the duo find themselves kidnapped and stuck in an unsavoury part of Colombia. With the American government useless in their plight, the mother-daughter combo are forced to fend for themselves in their fight for survival.

This is a one-note film by director Jonathan Levine (‘Warm Bodies’) and writer Kate Dippold ('Ghostbusters'). ‘Snatched’ is 100% an Amy Schumer vehicle. It’s her humour and style, and all the laughs and physical comedy have been assigned to her and her alone. Hawn is absolutely wasted as the “wet blanket” parent. There are two soft secondary storylines involving Emily’s agoraphobic brother Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz, ‘Sisters’), and Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack as “plutonic best friends” who just happen to have special skills. I’ll admit that Ike brings a little something-something to the table and is quite funny, but I have no idea why Wanda and Joan were there. It’s almost as though they shot their scenes and then were an afterthought in the editing room. If they weren’t there, no one would miss them. Again, this is extremely sad given their supreme comedic talents.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Amy Schumer, I really do, but my undying love and adoration for Ms Hawn left me feeling flummoxed at what it was I was watching. There are some rip-snorting one-liners and moments in this film - it's a good laugh but ultimately shallow, two-dimensional and vanilla. There is nothing exceptional here except for the cast, who are completely undervalued and underused.