Snatched

Snatched (2017)

Starring Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Joan Cusack, Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes, and Christopher Meloni

Directed by Jonathan Levine

Written by Katie Dippold

***This film is currently streaming via HBO***

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Fired by her job and dumped by her boyfriend, Emily (Amy Schumer) is desperate to have fun on her pre-planned trip to Ecuador.  With no one to go with her, Emily reluctantly agrees to have her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) tag along.  While out exploring the island, Emily and Linda are kidnapped by masked men and they must do all they can to return to safety.

• Snatched is a 2017 equivalent of Romancing the Stone -- an "adventure comedy" minus the romance -- but it's not as good as that fun 1980s flick.
• My first experience with Amy Schumer was with the very good Trainwreck, but this film squanders her comedic chops with a plot that can't really sustain itself even over the short runtime.
• That said, because of both Schumer and Goldie Hawn, Snatched is much more watchable than it deserves to be.  Yes, subplots with some ridiculous characters played by Ike Barinholtz, Joan Cusack, Wanda Sykes, and Christopher Meloni are too silly to merit screentime, but at its heart the mother/daughter dynamic between Schumer and Hawn is believable and undeniably enjoyable.  It makes me long for Hawn to take part in a better film instead of having this be her first screen venture in 15 years.  Here's hoping she doesn't wait another decade-and-a-half before she takes another role.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+