What do you get when you force an uptight, accident-prone female cop to babysit the high-maintenance widow of a drug dealer? An unapologetically feminine approach to the traditionally all-male buddy cop movie.
Reminiscent of the 1988 film “Midnight Run,” with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, “Hot Pursuit” stars Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara in what director Anne Fletcher describes as an “on your mark, get set, run!”–type film. Complete with disguises, an open-road bus chase, and Vergara’s killer wardrobe, “Hot Pursuit” is the full embodiment of its title.
Flexing a different acting muscle than the one last seen in “Wild,” Witherspoon plays Cooper, a police officer’s daughter trying to get Daniella (Vergara) to a court testimony alive; not since “Legally Blonde” have we seen the actor in such an all-encompassing comedic form.
Throughout the film, the pair attend a quinceañera, make friends with a felon, get shot at multiple times, and use menstruation to dodge crooked cops. Yes, periods have long been used as a “get out of gym free” card, but Fletcher’s foray into the action-comedy film genre takes it to new heights in the form of an elaborate speech delivered by Vergara about the uterus’ monthly shedding.
“I loved the idea of Sofía and Reese together because you already know that dynamic is going to kick ass,” says Fletcher. “We all loved to watch [Reese] in comedy, especially playing a little bit of the goofball underdog who wins at the end. And Sofía, she’s just so charismatic and self-deprecating in a really fantastic way because she has this exterior that’s so jaw-dropping, but she’s silly and raunchy and hilarious. I was excited to explore that combination of women.”
Fletcher prides herself on her ability to get a sense for chemistry, a trait she likely picked up from her days as a choreographer. Starting out as a dancer transplant from Detroit to Los Angeles, Fletcher sought out auditions in the pages of Backstage before moving into directing with “Step Up,” the dance drama that launched Channing Tatum’s career.
“The reason I love film and TV…it’s a story you’re telling where either the plot is being furthered by the dance or not,” she says about her beginnings. “I would read the whole script, understand the character, and understand the purpose of the dance and the mechanics of the storytelling. So going into directing was fantastic because it’s exactly like choreographing but much bigger; you have to answer to everything.”
For Fletcher, landing beats in both dance and comedy are essential to a successful performance. “The rhythms of how people talk and where the comedic beat is, even the score, that’s part of the story—it’s all connected. It’s just how I hear and how I see everything; it’s musical.”
Although she didn’t attend film school, the director has a sketch comedy background and enjoys stepping out of her comfort zone. With “Hot Pursuit,” Witherspoon’s awards circuit after “Wild” and Vergara’s short hiatus from “Modern Family” left Fletcher with a tight shooting schedule under the scorching New Orleans sun, but the director moved quickly—and had a solid makeup team to back her up when things got sweaty.
“When you have limited time, you get to where they’re starting from and where they need to end up,” she says about working alongside her actors with the script. “With regard to the written word and improv, I love to do both. Actors know their characters better than anyone, even the director, because that’s their only focus—they’re going to have ideas. I like to stay open with how we shoot. You never know when a good idea will come from someone at craft services.”
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