“Hot Pursuit” is neither hot nor is it really much of a pursuit. It’s poor, upsetting filmmaking that is worst of all, lazy. Every time there was an easy way to set up a joke, that’s the road that was chosen. Every time there was a writing obstacle that had to be figured out, the answer of least resistance was called into action.

There’s talent sprinkled throughout the cast and crew of “Hot Pursuit,” but it is, all of it, wasted. Reese Witherspoon and Sofía Vergara make for an interesting odd-couple. Unfortunately, they are shoehorned into poorly conceived roles and directed into competing, clashing, stereotypical accents that drove this reviewer’s patience to the breaking point.

“Hot Pursuit” is just plain lazy filmmaking. No apparent effort or heart went into its creation. The best aspect of the movie is, hilariously, the lighting. A few times throughout the movie, the lighting really sets the tone and becomes something of its own character. Granted, it’s entirely possible that I was scrounging the periphery for something of note because the focus of the film was so devoid of anything interesting.

The second weekend of summer is always a runoff zone. A colossal movie, like “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” opens on week one and studios know that the heavy hitters need to spaced out. The result is always an odd comedy for week two that provides little or no threat to the kickoff summer blockbuster. Speaking of “Age of Ultron,” I did go see it a third time and it ages fantastically. I should really have seen it a fourth time instead of seeing “Hot Pursuit.”

2 of 6 stars