Producer/writer combo Paul Feig and Katie Dippold return with their latest effort, Snatched, a film about a mother (Goldie Hawn) and daughter (Amy Schumer) who get abducted while on vacation in Ecuador. From Feig’s team of producers, Dippold, and their two strong stars, one would expect more comedic moments and a bit of a heftier story. The heartbeat given to Snatched in its introductory phase eventually flatlines as it stumbles toward its climax and resolution, where laughs are few and far between.

Feig and Dippold have found success in the past by delivering star power and witty dialogue in films like Ghostbusters (2016) and The Heat (2013), and Snatched was promised to be more of the same. However, Schumer and Hawn’s impressive chemistry was not enough to compensate for a pencil-thin plot that tended to leave its audience stranded, especially in the latter half of the film.

Schumer and Hawn do have some hilarious moments, though. The duo feed off each other to create some funny, all too familiar mother-daughter scenarios, . The first half of Snatched finds them striking frequently and their dialogue is sure to have audiences cackling.

The problem is that the best comedic punches land in the beginning of the movie and slowly dissipate throughout the remainder. Witty dialogue is swapped for shallow action sequences that, unfortunately, do not allow the stars to play to their strengths.

The overall structure of Snatched is similar to The Heat, where the two stars benefit from a smart script and must get their hands dirty to resolve a difficult situation, all while subtle mentions of their pasts or character flaws allow the audience to get emotionally attached to them.

The film somewhat succeeds in the first half of this design, but fails in its attempt to inject some emotional weight by giving Schumer and Hawn some tense confrontational moments where their character flaws are revealed. The goofiness and levity surrounding these moments make it difficult to take them seriously, though, and they are ultimately rendered useless.

Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack notably intervene to provide some much needed chuckles toward the end, but even they disappear when there was potential for them to help revive the movie. Instead, it is left to fizzle out on its own.

Even though viewers will have seen better from this comedic all-star team and its actors, their talent is not to be understated. Schumer and Hawn work well together, and they had the power to make this a decent flick if only Feig and the rest of the team had let them.

The well-meaning themes of Snatched do not have their intended earnest effect on the viewers, and they will likely be forgotten.

Sails: 2.5/5

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