Viaje salvaje

This film was written by a woman and stars two women-- kudos, we need more! While the jokes are variations on old sophomoric themes, they are spun freshly enough, and at times impressively original, to have kept me laughing throughout!! This movie is a great way to pass a lazy afternoon with some snacks. Don't be a film critic; relax, enjoy, have fun with it. It's very funny!

Melissa McCarthy appears to be replaced by a younger and gutsier model. Meet Amy Schumer – former Comedy Central stand-up artist in her second film since her debut in Trainwreck. By both writing and starring in that film, Schumer proved that there are still unexplored avenues in Rom-Coms that aim to make the audience laugh. Snatched follows suit as a buddy comedy by mixing up action (sometimes violent) with laugh-out-loud gags where Schumer is allowed free reign. It works, but only in the first half where most of the jokes are frontloaded.

Schumer plays Emily, a self-centered individual suffering from blaring personal insecurities. But she is also optimistic, fun loving and adventurous. When she gets fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend on the same day, Emily phones-in her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) as a companion on a trip to Ecuador. In between mother- daughter bickering, Emily has a blast which ends up in disaster when both of them are 'taken' by South American baddies. And there's no Liam Neeson to save them. What follows is an eccentric escape plan that leads to some very high brow shenanigans.

Last seen in The Banger Sisters 15 years ago, one of the most bizarre things about this film is veteran actress Goldie Hawn being called out of retirement. Trying to make any sort of connection with Hawn's previous characters leads to a dead end, which is why her role here is not only absurd, but also miscast. But before you start to think that something is missing, The Heat and Ghostbusters (both staring Melissa McCarthy) screenwriter Katie Dippold tries to have us believe that the bond between a mother and daughter will overcome any and all perils. It's a nice touch but who are we kidding? By the time we get a feel of what's going on, the fun ends as soon as it starts. On the other hand, Schumer is fun to watch but there's also the feeling that her characters (both of them so far) are mirror images of the roles Will Ferrell played years ago. Also a stand-up comedian, Ferrell got away with playing likable but unpleasant characters till all his characters were losers by default. While it may be too early to say if Schumer needs to look at her roles with prudence, the general feeling is assuring given her flawless comic timing.

On the plus side, laughs come from unexpected places thanks to guest roles from Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack, a pair of weirdos who drop in out of nowhere and in the middle of nowhere. There is also a stupidly funny subplot involving Emily's super-nerd brother Jeffrey and a State Department official at loggerheads with each other. These tidbits keep the film from being a total disaster and in the end, If Snatched is about celebrating adventure and the open road, it gets there, albeit without a blazing trail.

First off, the reviews (if you can call them that) here are ridiculously biased and definitely come from a place of pure disdain for Amy Schumer. While I do feel the critiques of her are warranted to an extent, I also feel that the film is not going to get a fair shake. So here is my attempt at giving Snatched a fair review. First off, I saw this last night at a preview screening and I'd be lying if I said I didn't chuckle a couple times. I did. Goldie Hawn being back on screen is awesome to see and to see her doing comedy again was a huge selling point. However, despite a few chuckles and me being enamored with Hawn's return to the silver screen, Snatched is simply a dismal film. It isn't just because of Amy Schumer that this film is bad, it is a joint effort by all parties including Goldie Hawn.

The film begins in slapstick fashion by introducing us to Schumer and Hawn's mother- daughter team. I'm not gonna lie, the two have some serious chemistry in their respected roles. The only problem is that Schumer & Co. rely on gross out humor and even lift some jokes from certain cult comedies to make their film work. The script is barely there and hopes that Schumer can fill in the gaps with stupid jokes rather than some on-the-surface character development. Instead, the film brushes through topics ranging from promiscuous sex to human trafficking to the power of a mother-daughter bond. These are all topics that could carry a film and at every chance the film gets, it fails to capitalize on any of those themes.

In between vaginal jokes and gags from Schumer and some scenes of pretty hardcore violence for a comedy, there is barely anything to make us want these characters to succeed other than they are mother and daughter. While I can't exactly relate to that relationship, I can tell the filmmakers were hoping that that familiar bond would be enough to carry the film. Guess what, it's not. They're poorly written characters, which is a shame because Schumer and Hawn do make quite the dynamic duo and when it works, it works. The big problem here is that it works far too little and there is far too much wrong with the film overall to really recommend it.

Amy is not funny. Her vagina jokes and profane humor is not endearing. She leaves nothing to the imagination. She can be funny but she was not in this and seemed to over act. Poor Goldie had to come out of retirement for this mess. There were some funny parts in the movie but none came from Amy. This movie could have had some real potential, but the writing was poor. They wasted a lot on unneeded vulgarity which they thought was funny. Don't waste your time with mess.

I really do not understand the extremely low ratings and bad reviews. It is a funny movie with really good cast. I do not laugh easily, but this movie made me laugh out loud several times. Moreover, there was not a dull minute in it. Every scene is either funny or action packed.

Some of the reasons behind the bad reviews are utterly ridiculous. Therefore, I am no longer choosing what I am going to watch based on IMDb reviews.

Finally, I want to add that I do not write reviews often, but after watching this movie and seeing the ridiculous comments and rating, I could not resist. If you want an hour and a half of fun, watch this movie.