Prior to watching Hit and Run, the trailers actually looked pretty darn good. I enjoy Dax Shepard since watching him on Parenthood and it looked fun. Then I had someone tell me how completely awful it was so my expectations were lowered. The final opinion once I saw it was...you know, that wasn't too bad at all. The pacing of the film was excellent even with the excessive and seemingly silly constant car chases, the romance was fun, the action was good and the story was typical and yet worked really well. I have no doubt that Dax Shepard wrote this out of a love for cars and car chases and watching Fast and The Furious. A lot of this felt like Fast and The Furious: The Comedy. The bad language was excessively forced at you, the fancy high end cars were everywhere, and the way they found various ways to switch cars actually sort of worked but it was obvious it was to flash more cars at you. The cast was good, the chemistry between our leads was very good. I think their real life romance helped their on screen characters a lot because they are so off beat together and yet they fit together so well. The dialogue in the film (aside from the constant barrage of cursing) is actually very well done and the movie is fun. It won't blow you away but its a fun and entertaining ride.
Dax Shepard played a lot of duties on this film. He wrote, co-directed and starred in the movie and it was pretty good. His acting performance is what you might expect from him but he holds his own as the anti-hero and he's fun to watch. His real life girlfriend/fiancé Kristen Bell is fun and they play off of each other really well. She's beautiful of course but she does manage to have a down to earth quality about her that really worked for this movie. Their banter and dialogue is really good and I think their chemistry is what makes this even more watchable. Tom Arnold is back as the loud, obnoxious and downright stupid sidekick that he does so well. He is also responsible for so much of the cursing in the movie. Cursing doesn't bother me per se but when its so gratuitous that you lose aspects of the film then its too much. Arnold does his role well enough that he is born to play. Michael Rosenbaum is terrific as Bell's ex-boyfriend Gil. He is certainly there for the slapstick comedy but he does it well and it was a pleasure watching him do it. For all the hype I heard about Bradley Cooper's role (even the front of the box proclaims "Bradley Cooper is hilarious.") I'm not sure I saw the hilarity aspect. He was okay as the villain, a little overplayed at times but he was decent. He definitely didn't steal the show or anything. Supporting cast members include a memorable cameo from Kristin Chenoweth and the incomparable Beau Bridges.
I actually think if Dax Shepard had turned his script over to someone with a little more experience to fine tune it and a more seasoned director that this film would have been really actually top notch. Instead at times it feels like an amateur entry. That doesn't make it bad by any means but less than what could have been. I still think people looking for a decent action comedy with a dash of "buddy cop" feel to it will enjoy this one. Don't let your expectations become unrealistic but if you go in knowing what you're in for then you'll at least be entertained for an hour and a half and that is what is important. Average? Yes. But decent all around. 7/10
Dax Shepard played a lot of duties on this film. He wrote, co-directed and starred in the movie and it was pretty good. His acting performance is what you might expect from him but he holds his own as the anti-hero and he's fun to watch. His real life girlfriend/fiancé Kristen Bell is fun and they play off of each other really well. She's beautiful of course but she does manage to have a down to earth quality about her that really worked for this movie. Their banter and dialogue is really good and I think their chemistry is what makes this even more watchable. Tom Arnold is back as the loud, obnoxious and downright stupid sidekick that he does so well. He is also responsible for so much of the cursing in the movie. Cursing doesn't bother me per se but when its so gratuitous that you lose aspects of the film then its too much. Arnold does his role well enough that he is born to play. Michael Rosenbaum is terrific as Bell's ex-boyfriend Gil. He is certainly there for the slapstick comedy but he does it well and it was a pleasure watching him do it. For all the hype I heard about Bradley Cooper's role (even the front of the box proclaims "Bradley Cooper is hilarious.") I'm not sure I saw the hilarity aspect. He was okay as the villain, a little overplayed at times but he was decent. He definitely didn't steal the show or anything. Supporting cast members include a memorable cameo from Kristin Chenoweth and the incomparable Beau Bridges.
I actually think if Dax Shepard had turned his script over to someone with a little more experience to fine tune it and a more seasoned director that this film would have been really actually top notch. Instead at times it feels like an amateur entry. That doesn't make it bad by any means but less than what could have been. I still think people looking for a decent action comedy with a dash of "buddy cop" feel to it will enjoy this one. Don't let your expectations become unrealistic but if you go in knowing what you're in for then you'll at least be entertained for an hour and a half and that is what is important. Average? Yes. But decent all around. 7/10