When it comes to comedies there is nothing like the buddy picture. You know the formula, you put a couple of comedian together with a straight-man or woman and hijinks ensue. Like most things, what sounds good on paper doesn’t always translate in reality and more often than not we are left with a comedy that’s not very funny at all. With so many of these films starring men, it would be a good thing to change it up, and team up a couple of women, because maybe the change will do the buddy comedy good, I mean what could go wrong?
Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) was born to be a cop. Her father was a cop and he would take little Cooper everywhere in the back of his patrol car, so much so it makes you wonder what kind of cop he really was. When Cooper gets older, she finds herself chosen to help protect a witness names Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergara) who is about to testify in a case against a very bad man. Cooper is a by the book kind of cop, the kind who talks in official terms, while her witness is more the loud and annoying type. When things go wrong from the get go, Cooper’s only thought is that she has to get Daniella to testify, something a lot of people don’t want to happen. What follows is a race through Texas and to see if Cooper and Daniella can survive the people that are after them as well as each other.
To quote Lloyd Christmas “Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?” then spend an hour and an half listing to Sofia Vergara and a amped up Reese Witherspoon. The only sound I could think of comparable would be if you took both hands and ran you nails down a chalkboard for over an hour, yes it’s that bad. While it has the annoyance part down, it misses on the comedy part, even providing unfunny outtakes at the end of the film. After seeing Witherspoon give the best performance in her career in last year’s “Wild”, to see her maybe give her worst in less than a year shows the range that she has. As for Vergara, she is one of those actors that are better in smaller doses, because too much of her is not a good thing at all. While I might not have enjoyed this film, I do think there is an audience out there who might find it “cute”, unfortunately I am not that audience, and for me this was very hard to watch. The good thing is both Witherspoon and Vergara will be just fine if this movie doesn’t do well. As for everyone else, stay home and play Trivia Pursuit, because almost anything would be a better way to spend your time than pursuing this movie.
Brian Taylor
