Highly Overrated But Still Good

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Unfunny comedy about a college student (John Cusack with Gabriela Sabatini's 80s hair) trying to find his rich girlfriend and her family so he can join them on their Caribbean vacation. Wacky hijinks ensue....light on the wacky. I really like John Cusack, especially his early stuff, but this just stinks. It's not funny at all. I had to double check IMDb in the middle of it to make sure it was supposed to be a comedy because there were so few laughs or even attempts at laughs. Cusack tries his best but the material is so weak he can do nothing with it. So he resorts to things like yelling all of his lines as if that makes them funnier. Well, he was with Robert Loggia in many scenes and that's kind of his thing so maybe that explains that. The supporting cast doesn't help much. Ham is the order of the day. In addition to Loggia, there's Monte Markham, Keith David, and Jerry Stiller all trying too hard. Ben Stiller appears here with his dad in one of his earliest roles. He's pretty bad, too. Always nice to see Shelley Fabares, even in a worthless part. The best part of the movie is Wendy Gazelle's beautiful smile. We don't get to see nearly enough of that, though. It's a very weak movie that has so few laughs it tries to become an action flick near the end. At one point it appears Cusack has murdered some bad guys, which might have at least given the movie some value as a curiosity, but no they live. It's watchable enough if you're not expecting it to be funny. Everybody who wants to laugh should avoid it.

I generally like John Cusack in every movie he is in. There are some exceptions where that is not the case, but IMO it has been tough to find a Cusack movie I don't like.With that said, it is no surprise I like this movie too. It is not exactly deep in story or genius dialog. It is not Cusack as his usual introspective self. What it is however, is a fun and funny chase movie that starts going quickly and keeps you entertained to the end.There is nothing too shocking, the good guys win, the bad guys lose, but there is a lot of fun, and even some decently tense drama mixed into this bag of nuts.You don't have to like Cusack to like this movie either, it is just a wild ride that he tags along for, and occasionally shines with some understated comedic moments. There is no deep hidden meaning here, its just a fun little flick that seems to have faded into the background. When really more people should know about it.

The humor in this movie starts with goofy physical stuff and ends with self-consciously ironic '80s kitsch. It seems unsure of what it's trying to be, and throughout the movie the episodic glue runs pretty thin. It's not well-directed and it's horribly edited, with problems even in the basic continuity from day to night. Most of all I got the archaeological sense that under it was once something actually kind of like a good screenplay, that just got maimed by the production. Although the characters -- overdrawn to begin with -- are forced to a breaking point by the way-over-the-top performances delivered by actors who can't help rolling their eyes at every line, there are some very well-written -- if politically dysfunctional -- dialogue sequences in this movie, most notably when Cusack finds himself on an airplane where the majority of passengers have just voted to travel to a distant destination, and demonstrates to the stewardess what democracy really consists of by decking a threatening passenger and getting the passengers cheering together behind him...

Hot Pursuit is a mildly funny comedy which is likely to draw interest from audiences searching for John Cusak movies. Dan Bartlett (Cusak) is supposed to go on vacation with his girlfriend. Lori Cronenberg. to the Islands. But, he has to bail at the last minute after flunking his Chemistry exam and his girlfriend leaves without him. A generous Chemistry teacher helps him out though, and Danny is once again able to go. But, what a surprise (not), he misses his flight and opportunity to join Lori and her family for a vacation on the beaces. Thus begins one misfortune after another as Danny spends his vacation moving from one place to the next to reach his girlfriend. Each time, something stops him from getting where he has to go. The plot is predictable (the procedure), though sometimes what the situation brings is not (the substance). But Danny is persistent, even if growing ever more tired of all the ungodly obstacles that seem to pop up just as he arrives.Meanwhile, the boat that Lori and her family is traveling on along the coast is being navigated by a murderer, who eventually gets the Cronerbergs involved in his plot. Danny not only must reach his girlfriend, but save the Cronerbergs from the madmen before it's too late, delivering an ending which at times wavers from being too over the top (Danny's plan of escape involves nothing more than a jeep ride and some grenades). Sometimes, the climax doesn't seem enough (the explosions of the grenades look like someone threw a sandbag at a tree). I think John Cusak fans will nonetheless enjoy the movie as he delivers typtical and youthful Cusak insanity present in his early films, even the ones with the most stupid plots. Even so, there are some funny moments in the movie from other characters, especially Kieth David as one of the Jamacians who gives Danny a lift. And Robert Loggia as Mac, who commands the boat that Danny hithces on.