It’s so weird to just stop and think that Amy Schumer is a newbie when it comes to acting. Trainwreck (2015) was her first foray into feature length movie acting. She came across as a little awkward but she embraced it and went full tilt forward with her raunchy, say anything persona. Two years later she’s back again with her second feature, Snatched. The question now becomes, will this be a sophomore slump or the validation of a star on the rise?
Schumer stars a recently unemployed and even more recently single girl named Emily who just wants to find some joy in life. She’s full of bad habits, delusional thoughts about her personal success and an all around “screw it” type of attitude. The thing is though, these are just ways for her to hide behind disappointment and sadness. Despite all of the negative events happening in her life, Emily still plans on making the best of an already purchased (and non-refundable) trip to South America. Due to her current social situation, or rather a glaring lack of one, she chooses to bring her mother (played by Goldie Hawn) on this incredible trip. Mom isn’t happy about going but she’ll do it for her daughter. As expected, everything goes sideways when the two of them find themselves kidnapped in a foreign country with only their survival instincts to rely upon. And if that doesn’t make you laugh…well maybe this movie won’t appeal to you.
Snatched leans heavily on silly humor give this action comedy substance. Yes there are tender moments here and there during its 90 minute runtime. But don’t fool yourselves, this movie has only one goal in mind and that’s to make the audience laugh. The saving grace here is that we are given gift of a comedy that’s rated R. If it weren’t for mature nature of many of things going on, we’d be looking a sure-fire pile of donkey dung.
Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes and a barely recognizable Joan Cusack add a little comedy variety throughout. Director Jonathan Levine kind of takes professional step backwards with Snatched when compared to his other movies. 50/50 (2011), Warm Bodies (2013) and The Night Before (2015) were all better experiences than this one but that doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time. Fans of Amy Schumer will surely enjoy what she brings this time around. Her detractors, however, will struggle to find validation for any full price tickets purchased. Everyone else who fall in between go either way.
Thankfully for Snatched, this weekend will be a race for second place with GotGVol2 having such a strong stranglehold on that top position. There’s absolutely no shame in that. Throw in the fact that this is the only new comedy out and the obvious marketing timing with Mother’s Day falling on this same weekend, it has a chance to make 20th Century Fox happy. If Amy Schumer can somehow beat the expectations here, I expect to see much more of her in the coming years. Check this one out in theaters right now.
