Sofia Vergara Steals Every Scene In A Wild Comedy That’s A Streaming Hit
Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon star in Hot Pursuit, now in Amazon Prime's top 10.
According to FlixPatrol, the 2015 cult comedy film Hot Pursuit has entered the top 10 on the streaming charts for Amazon Prime Video. The film, which stars Sofia Vergara alongside Reese Witherspoon, features a fun new take on the classic odd couple dynamic, with Witherspoon portraying a straight-laced no-nonsense police officer against Vergara’s wise-cracking gang-adjacent civilian, resulting in nonstop hilarity. Though the film underperformed at the box office, it has clearly found a home on streaming with a large audience.
Sofia Vergara is perhaps best known for her work on the hit ABC television series Modern Family, which aired for 11 seasons from 2009 until 2020. Across the length of the series, Vergara starred in all 250 episodes, winning a number of accolades, including multiple People’s Choice Awards. The series garnered massive audience and critical acclaim for its realistic and honest portrayal of a modern blended family, in stark contrast to television sitcoms of the past century which focussed on the traditional nuclear family, such as The Simpsons.
After finding major mainstream success with Modern Family, Sofia Vergara was offered a number of roles in feature films, including 2013’s Machete Kills, 2014’s Chef, and of course, Hot Pursuit, which launched her career as a leading woman. The plot of Hot Pursuit centers around Reese Witherspoon’s Officer Cooper, who is tasked with transporting a former drug cartel boss turned informant and his wife, played by Vergara, across Texas in order to testify as key witnesses.
Early on in the film, Sofia Vergara’s husband is killed in a cartel attack, forcing Witherspoon and Vergara to travel discreetly across the state in order to avoid being caught by hitmen. Throughout the riotous film, Vergara bothers Witherspoon with her indignant sarcastic demeanor and demanding personality. Of course, throughout the movie’s run time, the pair grow closer and learn to work together, even taking on a few of the other’s traits in order to become more well-rounded people.
Despite the high rankings across streaming platforms, the film failed to impress critics during initial screenings. Hot Pursuit currently holds a staggering 8 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics taking aim at the film’s plot, humor, and performances from both Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara. Amazon audiences certainly don’t seem to agree with this assessment, as the film has climbed the charts to top a number of possible alternatives, including huge budget premieres such as Citadel, which is currently failing to place in the Nielsen ratings.
Following Hot Pursuit, Sofia Vergara returned to her role in Modern Family, which aired its final episode in April of 2020, as well as starring in a number of films and cameo appearances. In the years since Hot Pursuit arrived in theaters, Vergara earned significant placements in The Emoji Movie, The Con Is On, Bottom of the 9th, Koati, and most recently, Strays, alongside Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Josh Gad. It was announced just this week that Vergara would be starring in the upcoming Netflix original series Griselda, which details the life and crimes of notorious Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco.
Netflix made the decision to move forward with the Griselda series as a result of the massive success of Narcos, but executives specified that the series is not technically an in-universe spinoff, and fans should not expect to see significant crossover or shared actors in the new series. Sofia Vergara is set to star in the six-episode first season alongside a host of up-and-coming talent, including Rosa Ochoa, Desiree Alexandra Estrada, Jose Velasquez, and Juliana Aiden Martinez.
Like Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon also continued to see major success after Hot Pursuit was released, including roles in films such as 2016’s Sing, 2017’s Home Again, and 2018’s A Wrinkle In Time, as well as television arcs as Madeline Martha Mackenzie in a 14-episode run of Big Little Lies, and Bradley Jackson in The Morning Show. With Hot Pursuit becoming something of a cult classic now nearly a decade after its initial release and both leading women moving on to a number of large-scale projects, it would be nice to see a reunion of some sort, whether it be a direct sequel or another film the pair could work on together.
