Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line, Wild) is dipping back into comedy with her latest film, Hot Pursuit. Her co-star is TV siren Sofia Vergara of Modern Family. Witherspoon’s desire to take on lighter material after based-on-true-story films Wild and The Good Lie is reasonable. But when Witherspoon has taken on comedic roles in the past, the material was smart and witty–Legally Blonde and Election were both outstanding comedies in which Witherspoon ruled. With Hot Pursuit, Witherspoon is heading into slapstick territory with a real “road” movie. Will the new genre showcase Witherspoon’s talents as well as others have? So far it seems Witherspoon can do anything.
In February after receiving her second Oscar nomination for Wild, Witherspoon told Entertainment Weekly: “All I ever set out to do was create interesting roles—not good girls, not bad girls, just complex women in lead roles.” When Wild hit $31 million at the box office, Witherspoon said: “It just shows you there’s a huge audience for films with complex female roles. Hopefully this will keep the motor going. Audiences are sending a message to these studios, that this is what they want to see.” But that’s not all they want to see. Hot Pursuit will be released in theaters in May.
