Snatched (2017)

“Snatched” stars Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Christopher Meloni, Joan Cusack, Ike Barinholtz, Óscar Jaenada, and Wanda Sykes.  Released on May 12, 2017, the film is about a mother and her daughter who get caught in an unexpected adventure when their vacation goes horribly wrong.

The film is directed by Jonathan Levine, who also directed films such as The Wackness, 50/50, Warm Bodies, and The Night Before.  It’s no coincidence when a film like this is released around Mother’s Day.  Back in 2015, I was dragged by my mom and sister to see the Judd Apatow comedy, “Trainwreck”, which introduced me to Amy Schumer for the first time.  It was surprisingly a nice watch for me and Schumer offered me some pretty decent laughs.  Two years later, we now see her teaming up with the Oscar-winning actress, Goldie Hawn, in her first film role since 2002’s The Banger Sisters.  With today being Mother’s Day, I wound up taking my mother, my aunt, and my grandmas to see it because they always have a knack of seeing “girls night out” movies.  As expected, they enjoyed the heck out of it.  Me?  Not so much.

Like any other film that screams “girls night”, this is the type of movie that knows what it’s made for: a bunch of women who needed some good laughs.  When you look at it from a different perspective, however, you’re not going to be able to have as much fun as its target audience.  While this is Schumer’s movie, the real star is, in fact, Goldie Hawn as Schumer’s character’s mother who gets dragged into this ridiculous South American adventure.  This was actually my first time seeing her in a movie, and she did a pretty good job carrying this film forward.  As for Schumer, she does what she does best while trying to keep up with Hawn.  Schumer has her own unique sense of R-rated humor that she used in her other projects, so if you like that kind of stuff, then you might like it in this film.  If not, then why are you seeing it in the first place?  Speaking of the humor, not only was it disappointing, but it also tried way too hard to generate some laughs.  The jokes range from sexual references and content, including Schumer’s exposed boob, to something that made me go, “What the heck am I watching?”.  I did manage to laugh at a couple of jokes, but everything else just didn’t click for me.  The film had a nice message that every mother could relate to (without spoilers).  However, due to its weak and idiotic screenplay and Levine’s inability to balance the comedy with his storytelling, the deliverance of that said message fell flat on its face and failed to recover, unlike Schumer, who also fell flat on her face because of her flip flops and managed to get back up without a scratch.

Overall, “Snatched” is the type of vacation that’s not worth taking again.  While Schumer and Hawn delivered some passable chemistry together, they’re not enough to generate a lot of interest to those outside of its target audience.  Most of the jokes were either forced or disappointing, Levine’s direction was a bit messy in terms of balancing comedy with storytelling, and the screenplay was too idiotic to be classified as a “so bad, it’s good” film.  Aside from that, all I care about is me spending Mother’s Day with my mom, my aunt, and my grandmas.  If they liked it more than I did, then that’s good enough for me.  If you like Schumer in her other projects, you might have a good time watching this.  If not, then please stop wasting your life posting inappropriate comments about her on the Internet.

D