In 'Hot Pursuit' of Counter-Programming
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at 10:07AM Is there any hope that summer action/comedy hopeful, Hot Pursuit, can be good? Reese & Sofia shared each others posters on social media the other day and it was endearing, albeit in a corporate mandated way. More...
In Reese's corner again post Wild, a success would be sweet but The Heat, which this will surely be compared to because OMG. A MOVIE ABOUT TWO WOMEN (WITH GUNS), will cast a long shadow and director Anne Fletcher, while due our respect -- I mean, she did launch the Step Up franchise, people, and she's one of the few female directors regularly getting studio work -- isn't a strong sign of comic gold the way Paul Feig is.
I perversely wish Reese & Sofia had switched parts. Imagine them both playing against type: Reese going a little wild (sorry), sexy, and busty; Sofia buttoned up and bossy. At the very least it would have been an interesing test of starpower range if they had both pulled it off but the comedy seems to have been written specifically to laugh at... sorry, with, their well established personas.
YES NO OR MAYBE SO?
It's opening just 7 days after The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which might be very smart counterprogramming given that most mainstream appeal movies have avoided May 1st through May 13th to let the superheroes collect all their loot.
Reader Comments (18)
Witherspoon has done against type. It's Sofia Vergara who can't act. The Step Up movies (refuse to refer to them as a franchise) are nothing to be proud of regardless of gender.
Doesn't look very appealing, to be honest.
Off-topic: not only do we have updated banners but I see you've changed the background color to green? Me like! :)
Yeah, I'm a No. They're not stretching and based on this trailer, worse than that, clearly don't have the spark. If anything's going to WORK as Age of Ultron counter programming, it's Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd.
Fletcher is a solid comedy director and it looks like the actors are playing - cartoonishly - to their strengths. I guess I'm a maybe so? I laughed a couple times. Doubt I'll see it in theaters, but I'd probably watch it on cable in a year. I would put good odds on it being a nice little counter programming hit.
3rtful - Vergara has fantastic comic timing (why do people always underestimate that skill?) but yeah, she hasn't demonstrated much range (although I haven't seen her as Sharon Stone's girlfriend in John Turturo's Fading Gigolo, although the two of them cast as a couple was the most interesting thing about that movie to me).
DJDeeJay - Vergara played Stone's girlfriend in the "friend who's a girl" sense. There was some playful stuff, but they didn't really play a couple.
I think Vergara's a very talented comedian, but agree she hasn't really proved herself out of that range. She's done less cartoonish (in the minor role in Fading Gigolo ) or more low-key, naturalistic (in Chef ) roles, but that's about it. It's funny to wonder what she might have done with the female character in The Paperboy , which she was originally meant to do. Doubt she would've been as good as Kidman, but who knows! (I wouldn't have thought Vergara and Kidman were actually competing for the same roles, btw!)
Carlos - oh, my mistake. I misremembered (or misunderstood) the trailer, then.
I feel like the summer's big wins for women will be Trainwreck and Spy.
While I agree that this looks like it was written specifically for these two, I'm wild about both at the moment so I'm onboard for it.
I think these two could be a killer combo. As a fan of her work on Modern Family, I believe there are untapped reservoirs to Sofia's talent. There's a lot more there than meets the eye. I think even with a lame script, Reese and Sofia, with their comic finesse, could spin straw into gold. Fingers crossed.
"Witherspoon has done against type. It's Sofia Vergara who can't act. The Step Up movies (refuse to refer to them as a franchise) are nothing to be proud of regardless of gender."
LOL, none of them can't act, but at least Sofía Vergara makes me laugh. Does this movie even deserve a mention on this site, let alone a post?
Me34: Really? Reese has made a lot of bad decisions (remembers 2004 Vanity Fair, Four Christmases and This Means War), but it's not that she has no range and she does try to grow herself while acknowledging her current strengths and weaknesses. (Reese was the one who optioned Gone Girl, but she made the good decision of skipping on Amy Elliott-Dunne, because whatever the modern Reese would have done with Amy Elliott-Dunne probably would have been disastrous.) I buy the idea of Vergara having no range (and this, an obvious reprise of Gloria, doesn't help her case there), but that doesn't mean she's a BAD actress either, just a decent but limited one.
it isn't the worst trailer I've seen, but it's pretty bad. However, I'm holding out hope because I like both these women and I want to see something other than CGI this summer.
Hate to be that person but, girl, that green on the sides is ruining my vision...
I don't know. I think it might be funny. Plus, I got a kick out of hearing Reese talking in espanol.
I love going to movies in the summer.
A female buddy comedy? Sign me up!
I doubt it will be worse than some of the special effects heavy movies I'll also see.
If anyone has the good sense to put out a serious movie in the spring/ summer, I'll run to that one first.
Its nothing groundbreaking but it looks cute, could see it being a hit
YES! I love Vergara and Witherspoon is a nice addition.