'Hot Pursuit'? Masterpiece? Not so much...
Hi everyone, and
welcome back. In addition to serving as your humble
guy-who-recommends-movies-to-you, I am also a university student. We've
just hit the assessment period this week, so of course I have a million
things all due NOW. This is my way of saying that this week and maybe
next week I might not be as up on the movie-recommending as normal.
This week
"Hot Pursuit" Starring John Cusack, Wendy Gazelle, Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller.
Written by Steven Lisberger and Steven W. Carabatsos.
Directed by Steven Lisberger.
Genre: Comedy / Action
Released: 1987
Running time: 93 min.
Rated: PG-13 (American rating for violence and language).
IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093215/
Okay,
let me make this statement right at the start: "Hot Pursuit" is a bad
movie. I repeat "Hot Pursuit" is a baaaaaaad movie. If you want to
watch something that has some degree of quality to it, I recommend you
go check out one of the other movies Ive discussed in previous weeks.
"Hot Pursuit" is justwelldumb. Its not good. It sucks. But its also a
hell of a lot of fun to watch. That said, the best atmosphere to watch
it in is with a group of friends, preferably people who are fans of the
work of John Cusack, and even more preferably people who are a little
liquored up. Because "Hot Pursuit" is, after all, a bad movie.
The plot, not that you really need to know it, revolves around a
college student by the name of Danny (Cusack) who has to miss out on a
trip to the Caribbean with his girlfriends family due to a chemistry
test he has to take. When he gets an exception from his professor,
however, he sets off to catch up with his girlfriend and her family,
who have already left on the trip. Due to a series of screw-ups, Dannys
journey brings him into contact with pirates, smugglers and hijackers.
"Hot Pursuit" markets itself as a comedy, but it contains few
intentional laughs. The most hilarious part comes in the third act,
when things go from quasi-romantic comedy to low-rent Rambo jungle
action adventure, with Cusack running around holding automatic weapons
and tossing hand grenades.
It's interesting to see a fairly
pre-fame Cusack, actually. He handles the role of exasperated Danny
well, but "Hot Pursuit" is a movie that his talents just cant save.
Neither can the appearance of Ben Stiller or Jerry Stiller, both of
whom try to be more menacing than funny, which just really doesnt work.
But I'm giving this movie too much crap. "Hot Pursuit" is something you
just dont take seriously and if youre one of those people that cant
stand a bad movie, I highly recommend you avoid it. But for the rest of
you who enjoy watching a car wreck of a film with a bunch of friends,
all of whom are taking a crack at their best Mystery Science Theatre
3000 impressions, then go now and immediately rent "Hot Pursuit." Youll
be glad you did.
Next week: We get back to talking about movies you might actually enjoy on more than an ironic level.
Tags:
Family time US Movie Music Reviews Film Movies 
