The Milwaukee Post

16 • Milwaukee County Post • May 19, 2017 By TOM JOZWIK Post Film Critic I'm not sure why Amy Schumer's character in "Snatched," Emily Middleton, chooses to vaca- tion in Ecuador rather than, say, Hawaii. But she does, and that might be the worst decision Emily's ever made. There's a sizable silver lin- ing, however. Emily travels with her mom, Linda (Goldie Hawn), and while the pair are quite capable of annoy- ing the hell out of each other they also love each other and bond on the trip as never before. In the end, Emily even welcomes the presence in her life of an agoraphobic, mama's boy brother (Ike Barinholtz) whose very exis- tence she previously would've preferred not to acknowledge. Many a movie these days seems to be preaching about the primacy of family. In this, "Snatched" is no excep- tion. It's a rather exception- ally enjoyable flick, however, thanks primarily to the antics and dialogue of Schumer and Hawn. (One hilarious line from bikini- clad Emily to swathed-in- white Linda on the beach in the early going: "Why are you dressed like a beekeep- er?") If you resolve not to like Schumer after hearing an outlandishly off-color comment or three, that reso- lution will go farther and far- ther out the window the more you see of the innocent- looking comic with the envi- able timing. While blue humor isn't absent from R- rated "Snatched," last year's popular "Neighbors 2" and "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" were both bluer — and both inferior. The "Snatched" story line has divorcee Linda reluctant- ly agreeing to substitute for Emily's ex-boyfriend (Randall Park in a fine dead- pan turn), who was sched- uled to accompany Emily to Ecuador but broke up with her instead. Despite some annoying behavior on both sides, the mother-daughter holiday is going well enough when Emily encounters the dashing James (Tom Bateman) at a bar. He feigns romantic interest as a prel- ude to facilitating the kid- napping of both Middletons. Forcibly transported to Colombia, Emily and Linda manage to break free of the kidnappers; the women keep a step ahead of their pur- suers with help from an Indiana Jones wannabe (Christopher Meloni, late of TV's "Law and Order," in another role meant to con- vince viewers he need not be stereotyped as a detective who eats bad guys for break- fast). But Meloni's character is eventually forced to leave the scene and the ladies are forced to seek the assistance of lazy, clueless bureaucrats and an odd couple of retired spies (Joan Cusack and Wanda Sykes, quite enter- taining). "Snatched" is not a mean- spirited comedy. While it spoofs governmental entities and their representatives, "Snatched" ultimately allows them their day in the sun. While it raises a red flag con- cerning exotic-destination vacations, "Snatched" ends up depicting one such vaca- tion as enjoyable and trouble- free. It's somewhat on the smutty side, yes, and includes a bit of nudity, but isn't that par for the course with contemporary come- dies? With its far-fetched plot and zany characters that somehow brought to mind "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" from my misspent youth, "Snatched" put me in a pleasant frame of mind and easily kept my interest. By JULIE MCHALE Post Theater Critic MILWAUKEE — For some strange reason, human beings, despite their history, believe they can eliminate greed, inequality, poverty, sickness and create the per- fect utopian society. Some charismatic individ- uals can make others believe they can deliver the prom- ised land. George Orwell, with his satiric style, wrote his still- popular "Animal Farm" in 1945 to illustrate Stalin's attempt to create this idyllic society. Except in his book, he used animals to carry on the revolution. The animals (the good guys) were rebelling against humans (the bad guys). Of course, the same eventuali- ties soon occurred in the ani- mal society — power strug- gles, turncoats, the changing of rules to accommodate those in power, false promis- es and, in the end, despite the original attempts to create a better life for all the animals and to eliminate the prac- tices they hated when the humans ruled over them, similar behaviors soon evolved. Snowball and Napoleon vied for power with Napoleon winning out. Jake Badovski and Mary Jensik both aced these leadership roles. Another character, Boxer, the simple, faithful, hardworking horse, was well-portrayed by Elliott Brotherhood. I liked Clover, too, Boxer's faithful friend. Alex Salter captured her caring spirit. She believed in Boxer's integrity. We empathized with these two characters the most. The whole cast of high school actors, with their real- istic sounds and antics, creat- ed the spirit of a barnyard, but they soon proved to be all too human and engaged in less-than-desirable human behaviors. Greed and igno- rance soon prevailed. The masses were too easily taken in and manipulated by the leaders. Sound familiar? Though Orwell was cri- tiquing a particular time and place, the premise of his story continues to resonate in present times. We are still capable of being bamboozled by those who promise us the moon. We still want to believe that mankind is also capable of nobility and good- ness (which, of course, it is). We want to believe that our leaders will make our lives better, despite the evidence to the contrary when we exam- ine the discrepancy between promises made and promises kept. Ah, our incredible credulity. This is a pretty meaty play for high school actors to tack- le. Director Matt Daniels did a good job at helping them convey the themes of the nar- rative. The costumes adorn- ing the "animals" were clever, thanks to the ingenu- ity of costume designer Kristina Sneshkoff, and the scenic design provided a variety of levels and enough props to suggest a farm, thanks to Madelyn Yee. The Milwaukee Rep has also chosen this play for its 2017-2018 agenda. It will be interesting to contrast two takes on this controversial play. Submitted photo First Stage performs a scene from George Orwell's "Animal Farm." ENTERTAINMENT Goldie Hawn, left, and Amy Schumer are a mother and daughter attempting to elude kidnappers in "Snatched." Justina Mintz, Twentieth Century Fox Schumer, Hawn keep 'Snatched' funny, but interesting First Stage's 'Animal Farm' a meaty choice for young performers "Snatched" ★★★ Starring: Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Christopher Meloni, Wanda Sykes, Randall Park Director: Jonathan Levine MPAA rating: R Running time: 97 minutes Showings: www.marcusthe- atres.com At a glance "Animal Farm" Shows are at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St., Milwaukee. Visit firststage.com. At a glance

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