1. Hot Pursuit (Warner Brothers, 3,003 Theaters, 87 Minutes, Rated PG-13 for sexual content, violence, language and some drug material, Rotten Tomatoes: 6% Fresh [66 Reviews]): Yes, look upon the fate of the female actor of a certain age in Hollywood. Reese Witherspoon, 39, is coming off an Oscar nomination and has a statue at home already. Sofia Vergara, 42, has numerous Golden Globe and Emmy nominations to her credit. Yet the only way they have they are able to participate in the summer movie season is if they team up for a mind-numbingly awful take on Midnight Run.
Granted, both could have said no (Witherspoon has trouble passing on awful movies ~~cough cough~~This Means War~~cough cough~~), but the options for both are probably slim and this film probably seemed like the best option for them. When the biggest gag they us is dressing up Witherspoon like Justin Bieber, it is really beneath both their talents.
Witherspoon plays a bungling cop who is tasked with protecting Vergara, a drug dealer’s widow, a task she is fully expected to fail at. Instead, she manages to keep Vergara safe from all the hitmen and dirty cops who are after her.
2. The D Train (IFC, 1,009 Theaters,97 Minutes, Rated R for strong sexual material, nudity, language and drug use, Rotten Tomatoes: 46% Fresh [56 Reviews]): Dan (Jack Black) wants to be cool, and he has found the perfect way to get there. He is going to bring the local boy who made good, Oliver (James Marsden), back home in time for their 20th high school reunion. Dan is willing to do whatever it takes. But what it takes is a night of passion with Oliver. How far is too far, and how will Dan get back if he goes there.
It shouldn’t be a spoiler to say that there is a sex scene between Black and Marsden in the film–it has been the main focus of the publicity for the film. I don’t know if that is a good thing–that we’ve come so far that a same sex hook up can appear in a film without people breaking out the torches and pitchforks, or a bad thing–that is being exploited for publicity and presented as something weird and unsettling.
