‘Hot Pursuit’ Blu-ray (review)

Kino Lorber

The unsolicited misadventures of the average American just trying to go through life was a favorite formula for 80s Hollywood comedies, resulting in many a fish-out-of-water story following otherwise mundane archetypes thrown into improbable scenarios filled with danger, romance and varying degrees of zaniness.

In 1987’s Hot Pursuit, Brat Pack-adjacent John Cusack portrays Dan Bartlett, a prep-school student who is looking forward to a relaxing trip to the Caribbean with his girlfriend Lori Cronenberg (Wendy Gazelle) and her family, however, when he flunks his chemistry test, it seems the vacation of his dreams if off the cards.

Fortunately for Dan, his chemistry teacher lets him off the hook, leaving Dan to race to the airport to catch up with Lori and her family, but missing the flight soon turns out to be the least of his problems, as he tries to catch up with the Cronenbergs.

Be it Romancing the Stone or Adventures in Babysitting, the misadventure romp was a firm favorite for 80s audiences of all ages, and some of the greatest hits of the decade indeed relied on comedy from misunderstandings, thrills from ordinary people ending up in extraordinary scenarios, and the prospect of a happy ending where everyone had a smile on their face after surviving a wide array of improbable and often amusing perils.

Convoluted as it could be, the appeal of these films is nonetheless obvious, as the formula usually guarantees thrills, fun and schmaltz in appropriate amounts, but Hot Pursuit unfortunately falls short compared to the films it was clearly inspired by, as it plays more like a half-hearted amble to hitch a ride on the coattails of better films.

Often lifting from better, more successful adventure comedies of the era, Hot Pursuit fails to even plagiarize these in a satisfactory manner, as the inspirations are all too obvious, and the execution is sorely lacking.

The novelty of Dan continuously missing the Cronenbergs by a hair soon wears off, just as the action sequences are poorly executed and lack excitement, and when the perilous penny finally drops well over an hour into this 93 minutes long feature, it comes much too late and never manages to create any meaningful sense of tension, and the finale similarly underwhelms.

Charming as ever, Cusack remains watchable, just as Robert Loggia and Ben Stiller also revel in the campy choices they make with the respective stereotypes they both portray, but everyone else feels squandered or unengaged, which is down to poor writing and production rather than the players, who are clearly struggling to imbue this story with some sort of life.

While there was clearly an intention to make this another great adventure caper, the heart is all but missing from Hot Pursuit, and one of the only highlights comes when Level 42’s “Lessons in Love” begins playing, as it is not only a banger, but it is also accompanied by the end credits, signifying this dud of an adventure comedy finally releasing its feeble grasp on the viewer.

Extras include commentary and trailer.

3 out of 10