First Hit: The film never seemed to find its purpose and the pre-release hype of comedic fun was far more than the reality.
Emily (Amy Schumer) is an unhappy desperate woman. When she gets dumped by her up and coming rock and roller boyfriend Michael (Randall Park), she must find someone to go with her to Ecuador on a non-refundable vacation. None of her friends like her enough to go with her, so she asks her mom Linda (Goldie Hawn). Linda is very security oriented and is afraid of going but gets convinced to go.
One would think that two gifted comediennes together in a film could make the circumstances of being kidnapped funny, but they don’t. Yes, there are a few lighthearted and funny moments and scenes, but mostly it is a poorly constructed action film with attempts to make it funny.
It just didn’t work and wasn’t believable in any way, shape or form. When they meet Ruth and Barb (Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack respectively) this film might have taken a more comedic turn, however the film only used them in the end.
The bits with Jeffery (Ike Barinholtz), who was Linda’s son, were supposed to be funny. But his house bound character was poorly constructed, not believable and insipid.
Schumer was not funny and certainly not very good as an action figure. Not sure if it was the script or direction but this film failed her, or she failed the film. Hawn was worse. I have watched Hawn from the mid 1960’s and I’ve never seen her more constrained and out of place. This was not the right role for her. Sykes was OK and did her best to bring some excitement and comedy to this film. Cusack was the best thing in the film. Barinholtz was very poor and did not make his role believable. Katie Dippold didn’t write a comedic film. It was a lost action film with comediennes in the lead roles. Jonathan Levine directed this mess and did it no favors by not driving this film to either action or comedy because this didn’t work this way.
Overall: This film is mostly a waste of time.