Set in New York City, this thoroughly modern story centers on two young men who collaborate on a screenplay, in an effort to become professional writers. Their arrangement is a kind of literary odd-couple. Alex (Michael Parducci) is an overly confident and slightly pugnacious chump who is straight. His writing partner is Elliot (Peter Jacobson), a timid gay man who lacks confidence in himself. The two are polar opposites. Yet each has personality traits important to their collective endeavor. Alex has the confidence and the dreams. Elliot has the talent.
The strength of the story is in the characters, and in the dialogue, which can be amusing at times, like when self-assured Alex says: "Hopeless is not a word in my vocabulary". To which the cerebral Elliot responds: "I suspect there are a lot of words that are not in your vocabulary".
Much of the plot is propelled by verbal conflict between the two. At one point, they are discussing a story character named "Inuska", a young woman. Alex says: "Now what was so terrible about what we were writing? It was funny, it was sexy". Elliot responds: "Inuska, the leading lady, she was two-dimensional". To which Alex fires back: "What are you talking about, two-dimensional? She was stacked!"
Some of the plot's romantic encounters are distracting. Yet they are probably necessary to engage much of the audience, as the process of writing is not visually exciting.
Alex and Elliot are two very different personalities. Yet each learns from the other. And the film's theme is about how people's lives affect their writing, and how their writing affects their lives.
"Hit And Runway" is a smart, sometimes funny, extended sitcom about two very imperfect people who must work together. The film is not some big budget, grand epic with a profound message. But it's well made. And for what it sets out to do, I think it succeeds reasonably well.
