Hot Pursuit (1987)

Fantastic!

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Dan Bartlett (John Cusack) is a poor kid in a boy's prep school. His girlfriend Lori Cronenberg has invited him on the family Caribbean cruise with her parents and sister Ginger. He flunks his test and misses the trip to take a makeup test. His teacher gives him a break but he misses the plane anyways. He gets to Porta Rosa and makes the mistake of accepting a ride from smuggler Alphonso (Keith David) and his friends. Meanwhile, the Cronenbergs board the boat with Captain Andrew and Chris Honeywell (Ben Stiller). A hungover Dan joins MacClaren (Robert Loggia) on his boat as Mac chases after Chris.This is so 80's with a young John Cusack and a wacky adventure. Even the gun action is so 80's with lots of shooting and nobody gets killed. It's a lesser example of one of these movies. Cusack does his best but he's essentially alone. He's perfectly lovable. I can do without the violent last act. This is mostly for Cusack fans only.

Released to 1987, "Hot Pursuit" is a youth misadventure/comedy starring John Cusack as a teen who is unable to go to the Caribbean with his girlfriend (Wendy Gazelle) & her family, but follows shortly thereafter, which leads to a string of misadventures. A youthful Ben Stiller and his dad are on hand as possible shady characters. Shelley Fabares plays the girlfriend's mother while Keith David plays an easy-going island dude.This is a likable teen comedy, but it seems thrown together. For instance, the protagonist's run-in with a trio of black islanders comes out of nowhere and leaves just as awkwardly with no tie-in to the main story. Still, if you like the cast and are in the mood for a teen comedy/island adventure it's worth checking out.For anyone who cares, the "island" sequences were all shot at Ixtapa, Guerrero, on the west coast of Mexico. So it's not even close to the Caribbean, but it's a passable substitute. The movie runs 93 minutes.GRADE: C

Male/Born 1983/Detroit, Mi.I am very disappointed with the lack of support on IMDb for this movie. I will admit I was very young when I first saw Hot Pursuit, but I recently watched it for the first time in many years and loved it all over again. It's a non-stop adventure with a ton of laughs, great characters, and an interesting story. It features Cusack in the prime of his young career and Ben Stiller before he was Ben Stiller.I described the movie to a friend of mine as a comedy/adventure that kinda turns into a watered down Rambo flick...but in my opinion it works really well and is probably my favorite Cusack flick. I recently saw Better Off Dead for the first time and thought it was pretty good, but it's amazing to me that this Cusack movie doesn't carry more of a fan base.Unfortunately, you may have a hard time finding this flick in the rental stores. I think I paid $8 for a new copy on Amazon, but this movie is definitely worth the buy. It will be one that you can watch over and over!!

HOT PURSUIT (1987) ** 1/2 John Cusack, Robert Loggia, Wendy Gazzelle, Jerry Stiller, Monte Markham, Shelley Fabares, Ben Stiller, David Keith. Cusack is at his amiable frazzled best as a preppie frantically trying to reach his girlfriend and her family vacationing in a sunny paradise with misadventures aplenty. Good clean anarchy.