Snatched: Goldie Hawn-Amy Schumer Mother-Daughter Comedy
April 21, 2017 by EmanuelLevy
Snatched, the rather silly mother-daughter comedy, starring Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer, hits theaters on Mother's Day.
Comedian Amy Schumer plays Emily Middleton, an impetuous dreamer, who is ambitious but has just never been able to get it together.
She thinks she is in love with her successful musician boyfriend, Michael (Randall Park). But right before their exotic vacation, he dumps her. On the cusp of stardom, he believes there is a lot of or groupies on the road. Breaking her heart, he leaves her stuck with two non-refundable tickets.
Emily reluctantly turns to the one person who says yes, her mom Linda (Goldie Hawn). Emily and Linda's relationship is distant, but Linda never let that stop her from posting on her social handles. "She's a very nice person who is a little bit afraid of everything," Hawn says of Linda. "She puts multiple locks on her door, lives with her cats and her son and that's her life."
Linda has no room for adventure in her quiet, suburban life. Linda is your typical ultra-conscious, over protective single mom who takes pottery classes and walked on the wild side in her younger days. "Her husband left her, and I think that affected her a little bit," Hawn says of Linda. "I think that was something that made her feel not that attractive in many ways. She wasn't ready to get out into the world."
Intrigued by her mom's adventurous past and also just needing someone with a pulse, Emily decides it's time for her mom to spice up her life again and ask her to join her on this once in a lifetime trip. "Emily invites Linda on the trip because she cannot find anyone else to go with her," says Schumer. As with any mother, Linda is concerned for their health and safety, but once she learns her daughter broke the cardinal rule of travel by purchasing NON-REFUNDABLE tickets, she was in.
Once they arrive in paradise these polar opposites immediately clash on everything from to how much sunscreen to use to the proper usage of flip flops. Emily thwarts any hopes for mother-daughter bonding. "This is not her chance to get close to her mom," explains Schumer. Despite Emily's intentions, Linda sees the vacation as an opportunity. "Linda goes on the trip because she wants to spend time with her daughter," Schumer continues. "She's desperate to spend time with her daughter."
Needing a break from the smothering, Emily heads to the hotel bar where she meets the very handsome James (Tom Bateman) who convinces the pair to come with him on a road trip to explore the local culture. "She gets charmed by me very quickly," says Bateman.
Smitten by James and busy taking selfies, a distracted Emily ignores her mother's distress signals not realizing they have been lead into a trap orchestrated by the treacherous Morgado (Oscar Jaenada). "Morgado is one of those guys you don't want to mess with," says Schumer. Snatched, disoriented and locked in the trunk of a car, Linda and Emily escape by accidentally killing one of the henchmen and hitching a ride on the back of a truck.
Reaching civilization, sort of, they come upon a shanty town with a pay phone. They decide to call the one place they know will do whatever it takes to save two American women stranded in a foreign country fighting for their lives, the US State Department. On the other end of this call is Morgan (Bashir Salahuddin) who is less than sympathetic to their situation.
Desperate, Emily & Linda turn to Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz) Emily's agoraphobic brother, for help. "Jeffrey's a guy who lives his life online, with video games, chat rooms, and Reddit," Barinholtz says. "He's definitely a momma's boy, and he still is kind of stuck in some kind of perverse adolescence." He decides the way he can help is to relentlessly call Morgan from the State Department.
Having zero faith in Jeffrey, Emily and Linda make one last call to the imperiled duo they befriended at the resort in Ecuador, Ruth (Wanda Sykes) and Barb (Joan Cusack). Barb is retired special ops who is always ready to return to action when necessary and voluntarily became a mute for national security. "Barb made a strong choice to not speak because she spent so many years in Special Ops, and then the CIA, and didn't want there to be any issue with spilling the beans," says Cusack of her character. "Ruth is Barb's hype man, since Barb can't talk," Sykes says of her Ruth's relationship with Barb. "Ruth has to tell you how great Barb is, and then we get to see that Barb has these skills."
After assessing the lack of immediate help they've received, they are forced to face reality. They are on their own and must work through their differences if they are going to survive. Having found a new sense of strength and support for one another, Linda and Emily meet Roger (Christopher Meloni), a guide who exhibits questionable abilities as an outdoorsman, but promises he will get them safely to Bogota.
SNATCHED is a journey from New York to the jungles of the Amazon, it is an emotional and hilarious exploration of the ever evolving relationship between a mother and her daughter. "I think in the beginning, she thinks that she's doing her Mom a favor by forcing her to go on this trip. She thinks she's going to help her and it's going to be a great adventure," says Katie Dippold, the writer of SNATCHED, about Emily. "I think deep down, Emily looks at how her mom is living and doesn't want to end up like that. She thinks if she can make her mom have this awesome life, then that will make her feel better about her future. She then realizes that she's a pretty selfish person."
Coming to terms with her immaturity and selfishness, Emily gets a newly found understanding and respect for Linda. With this, comes the determination to get them out of the mess she created. " The greatest lesson of all is she learns that she will never have a better friend or advocate than her mother.