Hit and Run

I enjoyed this film. Not just because I am a fan of Kristen Bell, though that is part of it. I often like quirky films, and this film has plenty of quirk, thanks to writer and co-director Dax Shepard, who was Kristen's boyfriend during filming, now her husband.

Hit & Run is an action comedy. Look at the poster for the movie, with the small photos of the actors and the huge image of a car. That is a clue. Expect lots of cars and car chases, mixed with humor. Think Smoky & The Bandit.

One reviewer panned the film because, he said, it's "PC". On the contrary, some viewers may not enjoy the film because Shephard's sense of humor is very non-PC, riffing on some subjects that may make some uncomfortable. Me, I found it funny.

A great cast contributes to the chicanery, including Bradley Cooper and Kristen Chenoweth. Tom Arnold plays a U.S. Marshall who is an accident waiting to happen--and the wait is very short. I found his performance to be distracting.

Eventually, most of the cast participates in a multi-car chase that--you can tell-was choreographed by a real car lover. Motorheads will appreciate that aspect of the film.

I will score this film a modest "6" and hope that Shephard writes another script that is just as big on quirk, but maybe a little more focused.

Dax Shepard is former getaway driver Charlie Bronson in Witness Protection. However, he leaves it all to help his girlfriend (Kristen Bell) get to Los Angeles. This leaves the feds and Charlie's former gang in hot pursuit.

The plot is almost unimportant. It's just an excuse for Dax to have some fun with his car. Dax and Kristen seem to have a lot of fun. That chemistry saves this mess. Tom Arnold is incredibly annoying. There's also Michael Rosenbaum and Bradley Cooper plus many many other characters.

There was one funny scene of hilarious talk of prison rape worthy of a Tarantino script. Other than that, you'd have to really love cars or Dax driving the cars.

Clearly a labor of love for Dax Shepard (he stars, writes, co-directs and co-edits; and it's filmed in the more expensive 2:40 aspect ratio), Hit And Run is better than it has to be. This isn't to say it's a great entertainment (it has plenty of filler and Shepard's ambitious attempts at character development, a la Tarentino, don't quite pan out) but it is often fun to watch and the cars--and the chases--are cool. While too much time is spent on drawn-out arguments between Shepard and his significant other (in the film and, apparently, in real life, played by Kristen Bell) and there's some negative dialogue regarding homosexuality and race (note to Shepard: acknowledging homophobia and racism in the dialogue doesn't simply make it permissible) it's not a bad way to kill a couple of hours. Shepard must be a really popular guy in Hollywood because a lot of the performers (high among them Bradley Cooper) would not normally appear in a movie this B-grade.

No this isn't as mediocre as you're thinking. It isn't. No it's not just another cheesy Hollywood comedy with dense jokes that's all about car-oriented action scenes and a pretty girl. I for example know nothing about cars and don't appreciate by the number American comedies and I really enjoyed this. If anything the title does the film no favors.

Dax Shepard, the male lead, actually does surprisingly well as a writer and director. Better than you'd think. In one word, this comedy has great 'balance'. The humor is centered a lot around contemporary social issues like political correctness and its abuse, and Shepard gives in a really good shift of managing to expose the silliness of the whole debate while not really piking any side outright and juggles well with both positions in a way that's properly comedic and fun. The character played by Bradley Cooper is characteristically hilarious in that same sense, he's this tree-hugging eco-friendly extremist psycho who acts as a spoof and as proper plot material at the same time.

Some scenes are genuinely funny, a couple proper hilarious, and all in all it's very well paced, very well constructed, dialog as explained is witty and balanced (not too cute, not too thick), the characters are funny and believable despite being like comic book characters, and there's good attention to detail, everything is spelled out or made totally obvious.

Very pleasantly surprised: 7.5/10.

This film is about a woman who has to go to Los Angeles for an interview. She runs into all sorts of trouble along the drive by her boyfriend.

"Hit and Run" is a comedy that combines comedy, some action and lots of cars. The prevailing mood of the film is very lighthearted, and the on screen couple is convincing. I can see how Charlie really cares for Annie with his dedication to taking Annie to her job interview. The incompetent cop is funny, and Bradley Cooper's thug character is funny as well. I am impressed by how, in the middle of all the mess, the directors still manage to throw in subplots about anti-homophobia and political correctness. I am also impressed by how many gay subplots get mingled in a movie with cool car swerves. "Hit and Run" is a comedy that is relatively different compared with the rest.