Yesterday L.A. Weekly critic Amy Nicholson joined Westword‘s Stephanie Zacharek in offering friendly words of praise for the generally reviled Hot Pursuit, which currently has a 6% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a somewhat more forgiving 30% at Metacritic. I’m figuring Zacharek and Nicholson were guided by the same liberal compassion instinct that led Henry Fonda to vote not guilty for that Puerto Rican kid in Twelve Angry Men. Fonda: “Look, this boy’s been kicked around all his life. He’s had a pretty terrible sixteen years. I think maybe we owe him a few words, is all.” Zacharek/Nicholson: “Look, women filmmakers have it tough enough in the industry without the two of us dumping on a comedy directed by a woman and produced by and starring women. We think they at least deserve a pat on the back for getting it made and doing it with spirit…y’know? At the end of the day women in the industry, including critics, need to stand together. Or should, at least, if there’s any way to respectably do that.” Then again this may be a case of perverse taste buds as Zacharek/Nicholson also loved A Million Ways To Die in the West.