Movie Review: Hot Pursuit (2015)

Hot Pursuit (2015) a.k.a Miss Bodyguard a.k.a Don't Mess with Texas
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, New Line Cinema, Pacific Standard, Warner Bros, USA, 2015. 

Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is a tough but goofy Texas cop who has dating problems as men are afraid of her. Her father was also a cop so trying to follow his legacy puts pressure on her. Wife of drug trial witness and former gangster Felipe Riva (Vincent Laresca) needs protection, so Cooper must escort his wife, cranky diva Daniella Riva (Sofía Vergara). When Felipe gets whacked Cooper and Daniella must hit the road and escape the killers. Dirty cops frame them also for murder so they can not trust the officials. They get a helper from nice rogue Randy (Robert Kazinsky).

Cooper

Daniella Riva

Randy

Old idea of putting a mismatched pair together sometimes works and sometimes not. In Sandra Bullock's "The Heat" the buddy comedy worked. This time it doesn't as the jokes are mostly weak. Surely Reese Witherspoon can do better than this. Sofía Vergara's spoiled Latino character was kind of annoying. However the Scarface joke was quite funny and also the running jokes about Cooper's height and Daniella's age. The plot is quite standard for the genre (Trivial Pursuit?) There is a crime and partners who first hate each other but become buddies. There's nothing wrong with the idea but the chemistry of the main characters was mainly absent due the lazily written script. Still it is not the worst kind of comedy, but mostly forgettable and formulaic.

Rating: Average

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley, Robert Kazinsky, Richard T. Jones, Benny Nieves, Michael Ray Escamilla, Joaquín Cosio, John Carroll Lynch, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Birbiglia, Vincent Laresca, David Jensen, Evaluna Montaner, Marcus Lyle Brown, Manolo Gonzales-Vergara, Kim Collins, Harlon Miller, Rachel Wulff, Phil Anaya, Jannette Sepwa, Joe Camp III, Kathleen Fletcher, Anne Fletcher, Oscar Gale, Jaylen Moore, Carol Sutton, Peaches Davi II, Alejandra Pérez, Fallingstar Locke, Kayla Cangiamilla, Leslie Ivette Quezada, Millarel Ormazabal, Natalie Legendre, Zachary Woodlee, Keaton Margaret-Marie Luster, Maggie Hance, Abigail James Witherspoon, Harley Graham, Noel Rathe, Precious Roberson, Bryce Romero, Josué Gutierrez, Leticia Magaña 

Director: Anne Fletcher