Mother and daughter mayhem

Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer make chemistry in this LOL comedy

Snatched

*** ½ out of 5 | 91 min. | R

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This slightly bawdy, occasionally gross mother-daughter comedy comes with a message: Family ties trump temperamental differences. It brings together a likable pair of protagonists in Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn. Daughter Emily is flighty as a robin while mom worries about leaving the house. They couldn’t be more different. Emily spends the first half of the movie rebuffing her overly protective, can’t-let-go parent, yet as the going gets rough, they see each other as never before.

The combination of rising star Schumer and 1970s golden girl Hawn is engineered to bring generations together at the box office. But there’s real chemistry between the two who look and act like a bickering mother and daughter.

They’re thrown together when Emily’s boyfriend ditches her just before their non-refundable vacation in Ecuador. Since she’s a loser, even a free trip can’t entice anyone to take his ticket and travel with her. Mom Linda, borderline agoraphobic, doesn’t want to go either. But then Emily discovers a photo album from the ’70s, complete with snapshots from London and a Thin Lizzie ticket stub—“Look how fun you were!” she exclaims. So they go, mom tut-tutting all the way about getting too much sun and drinking too early.

Things turn drastic when a young adventurer (Tom Bateman) lures them on a trip into the countryside. He’s in league with a gang of kidnappers. Turns out mom was right to warn about dark, handsome strangers. They’re seized, tossed into a cell, held for ransom, and mayhem ensues.

Snatched rides on a string of laugh-out-loud moments involving a perilous escape into the jungle (guided by a map on a restaurant place mat), an uncaring State Department (“Trust no one. Good luck,” they’re told via phone) and the threat of falling into a sex trafficking ring (they’re assured the traffickers only want young, beautiful women). There’s even a funny bit with a giant tapeworm. Linda lets go of her neurosis and Emily gets past her delusional selfishness. The conclusion is predictable but the journey is hilarious.