Hot Pursuit (1987)

Hot Pursuit is a 1987 American action comedy film directed by Steven Lisberger, written by Lisberger and Steven Carabatsos, and starring John Cusack, Robert Loggia, Wendy Gazelle, and Jerry Stiller.
==Plot==
High school student Dan Bartlett (John Cusack) misses the plane he was supposed to be on with his rich girlfriend and her family on the way to a Caribbean vacation during a school break. He flies there alone, and runs into a series of characters and misadventures as he tries to catch up. Ganja-smoking island natives give him a lift in their vehicle, but they don't quite make it as the family takes off on a chartered yacht. A crusty old sailor (Robert Loggia) with his own reasons takes up the chase with Bartlett on a decrepit sailboat. Bartlett then runs into corrupt cops and winds up in jail. Finally, he catches up to the yacht, only to find that the family has been taken hostage by pirates. He comes to the rescue.
==Cast==
*John Cusack as Dan Bartlett
*Robert Loggia as "Mac" MacClaren
*Wendy Gazelle as Lori Cronenberg
*Jerry Stiller as Victor Honeywell
*Monte Markham as Bill Cronenberg
*Shelley Fabares as Buffy Cronenberg
*Ben Stiller as Chris Honeywell
*Dah-ve Chodan as Ginger Cronenberg
*Keith David as Alphonso
*Paul Bates as Cleon
*Ursaline Bryant as Roxanne
*Terence Cooper as Captain Andrew
*Martin LaSalle as Prisoner
==Production==
Pierre David developed the project with Steve Lisberger. David brought it to Tom Mankiewicz, who helped produce. RKO Pictures were willing to back the film but they only wanted to pay $2.8 million and filmmakers could not get the budget lower than $4 million. Mankiewicz managed to secure the additional funding from Ned Tanen at Paramount Pictures in exchange for cable rights.
Anthony Michael Hall was considered for the lead before the filmmakers decided to go with John Cusack.
===Filming===
The scenes at Dan's school ("Burnham preparatory school for boys") were filmed at St. Michaels University School in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. A "Victoria Taxi" logo is visible on the cab that Dan takes to the airport.
==Reception==
According to Mankiewicz, "everyone came out fine" from the film "especially Cusack and Ben Stiller, who went on to bigger and better things". The film holds a 44% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Category:1987 films
Category:English-language films
Category:American films
Category:1980s action comedy films
Category:1980s adventure films
Category:American action comedy films
Category:American adventure comedy films
Category:American films about cannabis
Category:Films directed by Steven Lisberger
Category:Films scored by Tom Scott
Category:Films set in the Caribbean
Category:Films shot in British Columbia
Category:Films shot in Mexico
Category:RKO Pictures films
Category:Pirate films
Category:1987 comedy films
Category:Articles with red links
Category:Rated PG-13