by Charles Kirkland, Jr.
A recently dumped woman and her over-protective mother take a trip to Ecuador where they get kidnapped and lost in the jungles of Colombia in the new movie Snatched.
Desperate Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) has just lost her boyfriend Michael right before their trip to Ecuador. Because she lives her life on social media, Emily posts her new relationship status where her cat-lady mother, Linda (Goldie Hawn) sees it. As any good helicopter, divorced mom would do, Linda openly texts her daughter and tells her to come home where Linda lives with her agoraphobic son, Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz).
While at home recuperating, Emily convinces her Linda to go to Ecuador on her non-refundable tickets. While in Ecuador, Emily and Linda meet Ruth and her platonic friend Barb (Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack) who hilariously warn the ladies about the dangers of Ecuador outside of the resort.
Later that night, Emily meets James (Tom Bateman), a world adventurer that lives outside of the world of social media, who ignores the pathetic fact that she is on a trip with her mother and shows her the time of her life at a secret rave outside of the resort. James seems smitten with the completely awkward and inappropriateness of Emily and desires to see more of her. He invites Emily and Linda on another excursion the next day and then all of the problems begin.
Snatched is a hilariously inane example of “Schumer humor” (defined as the socially awkward, self-deprecating and pathetic while trying to fit in humor, best seen in Trainwreck) amped up by director Johnathan Levine and producer Paul Feig.
In this movie we see Schumer as we have always seen her and Goldie Hawn plays the sad, doting, devoted mother role decently but the comedy gold truly falls to the supporting cast. Joan Cusack and Wanda Sykes are openly incredible in their roles. Cusack delivers without uttering a word while her friend Sykes speaks enough for the both of them. However, the interplay between Ike Barinholtz’s Jeffery and State Department agent, Morgan Russell (Bashir Salahuddin) provide the most memorable and laughable moments of the movie.
Goldie Hawn’s presence in the movie makes it easy to compare to movies like Overboard and Bird on a Wire from the ’80s but this movie is actually a good bit funnier thanks to the ensemble performances. A non-stop ride, Snatched is great for low comedy laughs but by no means is it high cinema. It’s actually more enjoyable than you expect it to be.
Grade: C+