Review Roundup: Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon Star in HOT PURSUIT

Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon star in the new action-comedy HOT PURSUIT. The film was directed by Anne Fletcher, who is best known for her work on THE PROPOSAL, STEP UP, and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.

HOT PURSUIT follows the story of a strict, all-business cop (Witherspoon) trying to protect the unreserved widow of a drug boss (Vergara) as they pummel through Texas, trying to outrun and outwit corrupt cops and savage gunmen.

HOT PURSUIT stars Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley, Robert Kazinsky, and Richard T. Jones.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

A. O. Scott, New York Times: Directed by Anne Fletcher ("27 DRESSES," "THE PROPOSAL") from a screenplay by David Feeney and John Quaintance, "HOT PURSUIT" is cautious and tentative in its pursuit of laughs, and almost entirely unsure of how to go about being funny.

Andrew Barker, Variety: A few mildly tone-deaf jokes are hardly enough to sink "HOT PURSUIT." What does, however, is its tendency to belabor the laziest, most obvious gags beyond the point of reason.

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Witherspoon's charge, Sofía Vergara as a recalcitrant witness in need of police protection, is an adept slapstick comic likewise hamstrung by director Anne Fletcher's sluggish pacing, which reliably stays with a scene for three beats beyond the punch line.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: A laugh could die of loneliness in this shrill, slapstick buddy farce that takes the form of a Texas road trip. Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara, their proven comic gifts gone MIA, huff and puff strenuously to keep this house of clichéd cards from going down. No chance.

Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian: I can't believe just how dumb HOT PURSUIT is. Moreover I can't believe just how much I laughed.

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: A jaw-droppingly klutzy law enforcement farce in the vein of THE HEAT, albeit deprived of the R-rated raunch and out-there gags, this is a down-home comedy that should have stayed there, as it does no favors to the appealing but ill-served (and poorly photographed) co-stars Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara.

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: There's hardly a single moment in HOT PURSUIT that won't remind you of scenes you've seen at the multiplex a thousand times before.

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "HOT PURSUIT" gets cold quickly. That's certainly not the fault of stars Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara, who work to keep this blessedly brief action-comedy shaking and cruising to an unthrilling end.

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The blame lies mostly with screenwriters David Feeney and John Quaintance. Why hire a pair of guys to write a script that relies so heavily on female-centric jokes? What the audience gets is too many jokes about menstruation and awkward girl-on-girl romance and daffy, badly choreographed fight or flight sequences.

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Exploding with half-baked clichés from beginning to end, this movie is a miscalculated horror for Reese Witherspoon, coming down from her powerful Oscar-nominated performance in WILD, and Sofía Vergara, who brightens up the popular TV series MODERN FAMILY with her weekly malapropisms and is obviously anxious to expand her comic talents (and ample measurements) to the big screen.

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