User Reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fast cars and comedy have never really gone hand in hand. Movies such as the "Fast and Furious" franchise have always been about the cars, with the jokes mostly sticking to characters digging at each other and one-liners. "Hit and Run," on the other hand, is all about the humor — with a side of car porn.

"Hit and Run" serves predominantly as a showcase for the comedic style of its creator, actor Dax Shepard. Shepard's filmmaking debut, "Brother's Justice," which he also co-directed with partner David Palmer in 2010, went silently, but here he's convinced his fiancée, Kristen Bell, to co-star and snagged another A-lister in Bradley Cooper to elevate the film's profile.

The humor in "Hit and Run" can best be described as awkward. It's a lot like "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in the way it constantly steps back to let the characters verbally break down the event, action or tension that just happened or is happening on screen, only Shepard is less concerned with social taboos and all the characters of "Hit and Run" are a little mentally off in one way or another outside of the central couple.

Shepard plays Charlie Bronson, only that's not his real name. He lives somewhere in hard-to- find California because he's in Witness Protection after testifying against some bank robbers a few years back. Since then he's started a new life and a serious romance with Annie (Bell), who doesn't know much about his past. When Annie gets an incredible and nearly shoo-in dream job opportunity in Los Angeles — the city Charlie must specifically stay away from — he decides to risk taking her there.

Setting it all in motion is a small contrivance: Annie needs to bring her teaching certificate, which she left in a photo album at her ex-boyfriend, Gil's (Michael Rosenbaum), house. Gil is still obsessed with Annie and convinced Charlie's a rapist of some kind because of his shrouded past. Ultimately, he discovers Charlie's real identity and in hopes of getting Annie back, contacts the very people Charlie must hide from, including Alexander Dmitri, a dreadlocked Cooper with an attitude problem.

It takes some time for all this to build, during which we're treated to a lot of weirdness. Tom Arnold plays Randy, the incompetent U.S. marshal assigned to protect Charlie who must then take off after him when he leaves town, and to call him a klutz would be a gross understatement. He's a running punch line in the film, which is fitting because Arnold is sort of a running punch line, but as you're waiting for the tension to ratchet up in the movie, he's frustratingly flattening it.

The slow first half of the film will immediately disappoint anyone looking for something high octane with lots of speeding cars and action. There's plenty of spinning out, chasing and wrecks, plus peeks under the hood for bona fide car nerds, but this isn't an action movie.

Eventually, Shepard's style finds its groove in the chaos of Randy, Gil and Charlie's old gang chasing after him. The characters arguing over trivialities, namely calling each other out on the dumb (and typically violent) stuff they do, works better in contrast with tension and suspense because it becomes less predictable. Before the story really gets going, the humor feels forced and anecdotal because we're just waiting for Alexander to find out about Charlie and go after him. The script in this sense could've used a veteran writer's assistance to help the plot hit the ground running.

Admirably, the core of the story is way these events test the romance between Charlie and Annie. Shepard and Bell's real-life chemistry is apparent on screen and the slow beginning includes plenty of legwork to make them people you want to root for. When Annie finally learns exactly who Charlie was and freaks out over it, the two have a very legitimate and believable argument and we yearn for that problem to be resolved, even if the other characters and elements of the film are too borderline psychotic for things to end up any way but happy or in complete ruin.

With the number of oddball supporting characters, random violence, car porn and plenty of meta-talk about relationships, the overall tone of "Hit and Run" is ironic. The soundtrack is probably the best example, as it includes Lou Rawls' recording of "Pure Imagination" from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" during a car chase sequence, and the film ends with "Let My Love Open the Door," which has no place in a film unless you're trying to be cheesy on purpose.

"Hit and Run" could be a stepping stone to something bigger and better from Shepard, who might find more success if he took his brand to television or simply found a way to keep the energy up in future films so that the jokes will hit harder. In the meantime, "Hit and Run" avoids being total late-August junk, even if most will discover it down the road as a surprisingly decent rental.

~Steven C

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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.

While shopping at my local Best Buy, I saw a copy of Hit and Run sitting on the shelf and I just decided to give it a try. I had nothing to lose and nothing to really fear. I figured it would be a light comedy with a lot of action to hold my attention for a good 90 minutes. I came home, pressed play, and watched it.

I don't really know how I feel about it.

Its not a bad movie, per se. I certainly didn't have a bad time. I was just puzzled at what I had just watched. Its a gooey rom-com with a few intense car chase sequences, peppered with raunchy dialog. Just... so weird! I'll give credit to Dax Shepard for making a totally original slant on an otherwise overdone plot line.

But then, once you get past the plot, it gets weirder. The acting, for the most part, is decent. But sometimes, it gets downright terrible. Take for instance, Tom Arnold. He literally shouts his entire dialog and spends most of the movie running wildly around screen with a gun in his hand. Why? I have no idea. Were they going for absurdist humor with that character? or was Tom Arnold just coked up? Whatever the reason, I grew to hate his character... a lot.

Then, literally, for no reason whatsoever, we get two scenes involving the main characters stumbling into an elderly orgy. What on god's green earth was that all about? Its as if the movie was spliced together with outtakes from a Sacha Baron Cohen movie, and they figured it would be so shocking, that it just had to be in the movie for a good laugh. It just sat there, dead on screen, in its wrinkly birthday suit. I didn't laugh.

Alright, enough with the questions. Lets get down to business. I thought the movie potentially worked and I did laugh more times than I ever thought I would. There is some really funny stuff in here, and its worth checking out to catch them all. I liked Dax Shepard, considering that he was channeling an Owen Wilson type performance. Kristen Bell is always a pleasure to watch watch on screen. We also get a delightfully bizarre performance from Bradley Cooper that entertained me a whole lot. Especially the scene at the supermarket... what an absolutely fantastic scene that was.

All in all, Hit and Run is hit and miss, and definitely surreal at times. But not a bad outing at the movies.

Good writing in editing. One of the characters is too much over the top to match the rest of the believability other movie. Definitely entertaining.

This movie is about a man who's in a witness protection program and has this soft whiny girl that can get a job in LA, 4 hours from their current village. During the ride to LA they are being chased by the criminals he witnessed against.

All sounds very, very exciting, but oh boy, the movie just does not deliver and is a bore to watch. Every minute you think, "THE ACTION MUST START IN A MINUTE", but that never happens. About 98% of the screen time the man and the women are talking, boring talk I might say. The remaining 2% there are some unrealistic fights, car chases, sadly also very, very boring.

And it is such a shame, because the cast is top notch, acting is good, camera work etc., it just doesn't deliver and never, ever gets exciting.

I don't often write reviews so I'll keep this short. I watched this expecting nothing more than something to waste a couple of hours.It ended up being a real fun couple of hours though. Clever script work..great character chemistry & fantastic musical score.I watched this with my wife who is very hard to please and she was also pleasantly surprised. I'm not saying this should win any awards but I am saying for those of you who don't take every film you watch too seriously .. it's a pretty cool little movie . Dax Shepard should give himself a pat on the back for this.For a movie with a small budget it manages to assemble a great cast and give more bang for your buck than many big studios deliver.

"Hit and Run" is an action, comedy, romance, and for the first time in a long time, that's exactly what it is, and in three equal parts. The romance pits Charlie (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Kristen Bell) as a small town couple in love. She's up for her dream job in Los Angeles. The action starts when Charlie drives her to LA in his home-built classic car with an engine that all hillbillies desire.

Annie isn't entirely aware of his past, but he's in the Witness Protection program and LA is where he can't go back to. Annie's hot-headed ex-boyfriend follows them and sends Charlie's criminal, revenge-driven, former associates on their tail. They are all trying to drive faster than the car in front of them, regardless if it sends them into trees or ditches.

The comedy is pretty much only when Tom Arnold is on the screen. An early scene of the movie has Randy (Arnold) talking on a cell phone when Annie passes him on the road. His nervousness causes him to spill his coffee on his pants. This of course sends his mini-van down the road without him in it. So the obvious solution is to run after, flailing a gun and shooting in its general direction. But it's okay, he took extensive training and has a license to do that.

Randy is a U.S. Marshall in charge of protecting Charlie but he's always behind on the action. Which is exactly where the butt of the joke always should be to keep it funny. He steals pretty much every scene he's in. Charlie's former associate, and the man who wants to kill him, is Alex Dmitri (Bradley Cooper). He's a deranged maniac who goes off on the quality of dog food but is more like a wanna-be hippie with severe rage issues. The character is probably supposed to be funny, but misses the mark.

The character of Annie isn't as well developed as Charlie and some of his compatriots, so we don't always care about their relationship. She frequently just wants to run away for safety, which is what anybody would want to do, and sometimes we wish she would get away. She was given an interesting educational background - in non-violent conflict mediation - which served a few jokes but probably even more if written better.

I quite enjoyed the car chases and the various taggers-along trying to get in on the action. With the classic cars, flashy cars and unique cars (most from Dax Shepard's personal collection), I would have thought of this as a guy's movie, but the surprisingly low ratings suggest otherwise. Perhaps it's a guy's movie for girls, but I'm not sure if that gives it enough credit.

Hit and Run (2012)

** (out of 4)

Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard), a man in the Witness Protection Program, agrees to drive his girlfriend (Kristen Bell) to Los Angeles for a job interview even if it means running into those guys he testified against. Along the way the girl's ex-boyfriend decides to tell the main bad guy (Bradley Cooper) where Charlie is. HIT AND RUN is a cross between the dialogue driven independent movies of today and the 1970s drive-in chase movie. I went into this thing with some pretty high expectations but I will admit that I'm totally lost as to what fans, including Roger Ebert, found so good about this thing. In fact, I think the movie should have been called STOP AND GO because the film moves so slowly only to then pick up a little speed and this is when you expect it to take off but it never does. Instead of taking off we slip back down into a slow motion to where everything just seems boring and drawn out. I'm not going to lie and say that there aren't some funny moments here because there are. There's a dog gag that works pretty well and a rape joke actually has some laughs to it even if the subject isn't something you'd expect to get laughs from. I really wasn't all that impressed with Shepard and even Bell seemed letdown by the material. The two of them had zero chemistry and the only one who really seems to be having fun is Cooper. The supporting cast also includes Beau Bridges, Tom Arnold and Kristin Chenoweth. HIT AND RUN features some highly styled chase sequences but none of them contain any drama, suspense and in fact they come across fairly boring. It's a real shame this movie turned out so weak because the elements were there for a fun movie.

I'm a huge Kristen Bell fan ever since I got sucked into the Veronica Mars series about two years ago. The feisty blonde knows how to play a variety of roles and characters that I've fallen in love with, not only for beauty but also for charisma and spunk. However, when I saw her latest movie entitled, Hit and Run, I was a little shocked that she not only agreed to act in this movie, but produce it as well. A film titled after a common vehicle crime does not sound like a hit to me, and from the trailers I wasn't really excited about this film. Regardless this reviewer still braved the uncertainty of the trailers and dove into the movie hoping for a surprise. Did I get it? Read on to find out.

Hit and Run is essentially about a man named Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard) who testified against his fellow bank robbers after a complication with one of their jobs. Being a snitch lands Charlie in the witness protection program under the eye of accident prone/foul mouthed Randy (Tom Arnold) and into the loving arms of Annie (Kristen Bell). Charlie's past catches up with him though when his old buddy and partner in crime (Bradley Cooper) returns with a four year vendetta and a hungering for some ill gotten money. Despite this clichéd storyline, I was hoping for a lot of laughs and some good chase scenes that the trailers showed glimpses of. Unfortunately neither of my wishes came true. Instead of comedy I could relate to, I was subjected to a variety of vulgar jokes, and cursing rants that was probably 75% of the reason for the R rating it got. Most of the comedy in this film was on racial slurs, insulting stereotypes, and trying to find clever uses of saying rather offensive words. If you're a fan of hearing Cooper and Shepard screaming the f word and insulting practically every race, then this movie is right up your alley. However, there was a ray of sunshine amongst the dreary proverbial slang and that was Arnold's character. The former Roseanne star wasn't afraid to drop F bombs in front of little kids, and unlike the trailers, this movie didn't leave out a single word. What entertained me instead was the situational comedy that Randy ran into throughout the movie. From his first appearance, Randy seems to have car and gun trouble and although the first accident is a little over exaggerated, I still laughed. As the movie continues, the accidents continue to get wackier and are usually well timed to provide some comedic relief from the boring pace of the movie. Albeit this wasn't Arnold's greatest acting role, his character was about the only thing good in this movie. The second desire of a good chase scene was also dashed in this film. Sure there were some cool swerves through traffic, some impressive drifting, and a pinch of close calls, but for the most part the chases were rather boring. Most of these chases lacked the adrenaline pumping action that I've become accustomed to, and even with the metal and rock music playing I just couldn't get into the scene. I think the only that impressed me were some of the beautiful cars involved, as both classic and modern attempted to wow the audience. Despite the beauty, the team failed to really impress the audience and me and actually made a few people leave. Is there anything else worth reporting on this movie? One thing is that Kristen Bell still does a good job playing her role, though it's a little more serious and less entertaining. Her character is more of a tool that drives Charlie's actions and also raises some "ethical" dilemmas that are attempting to get the audience think. Annie and Charlie's relationship is also a sweet, though rather bland attempt at putting some romance in this movie. If you don't care about that kind of stuff, then guys who have a crush on her will like her beauty in the various tough girl t-shirts and tank tops. Female audience members will also get their money's worth seeing Shepard in his tight shirts, though his acting is a little bland and emotionally challenged from his earlier roles. Aside from this cast though, there is a nice scene of Cooper standing up for a dog that animal lovers will like, but you can just YouTube that scene later and save yourself some money. The camera work and editing for this film are decent as well, but there were still a lot of things they could have cut from this movie, which would have made it shorter, but it was already short enough to be considered for theaters. Hit and Run is essentially a filler for chase scene junkies as they wait for the next Fast and Furious movie. For this reviewer though, there is not enough sustenance though to make me recommend seeing this film in theaters as it really fails to deliver. Yes there are some funny moments here and there, and Kristen Bell is still quite a delight, but you can watch one of her old movies and be just as satisfied. The scores for this movie are below: Action/Comedy/Romance: 6.0-6.5 Movie Overall: 4.5-5.0

A great popcorn flick. The leads have strong chemistry, tom arnold is terrific as always - an underutilised talent in my view, ever since True Lies - and a plot line that - while no epic - is actually quite different from anything i've seen before.

Brad Cooper's ethical debate on the merits of dog food and dick hansen's (word up Neptune) back flip are high lights.

Might become a slight cult film just because of all those small edit flaws - but it never gets in the way of a highly enjoyable hours of entertainment.

Humour, pathos, action.

Hit & Run is such a gem of a low budget fun thrill ride that it is inspiring to watch. The film has high production values and a couple of well known actors in Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold. There's also place for some great minor supporting roles, greatly played. Like David Koechner as the gas station dude Sanders, and Jadon Bateman (As Keith Yert) and Beau abridges (as father Clint Perrkins).

The film is about a guy, Yul Perrkins, named after Yul Brunner, having picked the name Chales Bronson. He is under witness protection, but is forced to get out of his hiding due to driving his girlfriend in his rare Lincoln to her new dream job in L.A. They are troubled by her ex-boyfriend, which is stalking him, and is ready to out him to the gangster boss Alex Dimitri, which is the reason he is under witness protection. Then the troubled road is set.

The film is what I would sort under road movie comedy, and has got some great driving scenes in beautiful scenery, and some car chases and burn outs in classic cars. It's a fun film, though not a laugh-out-loud movie, but still it has some real funny episodes. Most of them around the quite nervous and definitely unsafe US Marshall Randy, played by Tom Arnold.

It's quite impressive that the film is made on such a low budget. Obviously inspired by Tarantino, which shows on the many small and sometimes longer dialogs which is about different boring everyday stuff, not really concerning th film's progression, but which adds character. This is film makers having a good portion of fun, and that shows. Kudos to all involved. This is better than its rating so far.

Dax Shepard, who serves as co-director, one of the several producers, writer, and star of Hit and Run, appears to be heading in the right direction for actors-turned-directors with his off-kilter debut film. It would seem that all Shepard wanted to do was knock this little project off his bucket list, and round up several recognizable leads and just have a good time making what seemed to be a good film. It certainly isn't a bad film, interesting is more like it, and Shepard's sophistication behind the camera and on-camera is likable enough to warrant a small, controlled recommendation if anything.

The story we're given is loose and all over the place, with Shepard assuming the lead character role as "Charlie Bronson," a former criminal getaway driver who now has settled down with his girlfriend, Annie (Kristen Bell, Shepard's real life girlfriend) in a small town. He is constantly being watched by the inept U.S. Marshall Randy (Tom Arnold), and is constantly reminded of his old job and how he has let many of his old friends down to make life better for himself. When Annie gets the call that she scored a job in L.A., Charlie agrees to drop everything and take her there, even though she feels that she'd rather stay in their current home rather than leave him. Charlie believes that this is a grand opportunity for her and talks her into accepting the job.

Along the way, Charlie and Annie are pursued by Annie's obsessive ex Gil (Michael Rosenbaum), who has some dirt on this "Charlie" character he desperately wants to expose and Alex (Bradley Cooper), one of Charlie's old crew-members who he claims was shafted and thrown to the side so that he could make his life better for himself. All of this is happening under Randy's watch, who is supposed to be helping protect Charlie and Annie, but can not seem to get his gun and sexual orientation under control long enough to formulate a plan of action.

There have been far more coherent and plot-based films than this, but for the most part, that's not my true problem with Hit and Run, if I had one. The main issue I take is the comedy in here, which feels forced and taken from the notebook of a twelve-year-old obsessed with fat, nude swingers and sequences possessing an unnecessary mean-spirit. Consider the scene when we are first introduced to Bradley Cooper's Alex and his girlfriend, in a store buying some items when a large, ominous black man appears with a bag of cheap dog food for his dog that is waiting out front. Alex confronts him about buying cheap dog food, about it's extremely unhealthy for the pet and that a few bucks more on quality dog food isn't hurting anyone. The man responds by saying, "he's lucky I feed him anything at all." Alex and his girlfriend leave the store and in a short time, so does the ominous man who find his dog off his leash, staring at him. Before he can question, Alex wraps the dog's leash around neck, drags him across the sidewalk as his exposed flesh from his wife-beater scrapes the rough concrete sidewalk, and finally force-feeds him the dog food admitting it's terrible. Had this man been a dog abuser, this scene would've worked so much better and would've held a good level of satisfaction for not only the Alex character but for the audience (especially myself, who faithful readers know, I consistently question and condemn animal cruelty in almost every film). But that's not what we have here.

The whole scene reminded me of Super, a film that went on to be marginally forgotten, starring The Office's Rainn Wilson as a depressed, mentally ill man who went around town in a tight leotard acting a superhero fighting crime by punishing random acts of disobedience that went unnoticed by the corrupt law enforcement. This was all for comic effect, of course, but when I saw a man have his head beaten in by a wrench for cutting in line at a movie theater I winced and never truly recovered. That's a punishment fit for surviving mass-murderers of pedophiles. Not the insubordinate public.

Hit and Run, however, works well as an action romantic-comedy, an eclectic genre of film that is clearly not overflowing with masterworks, and one could credit Shepard for merging the stereotypical "guy movie," complete with car chases and slick setups with the "chick flick" simplification of romance and love. There's something here for everyone, good or not, and while I can not say Hit and Run struck a strong note with me, it successfully maintained my interest and furthers my optimism for Shepard in coming years.

Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Arnold, and Bradley Cooper. Directed by: David Palmer and Dax Shepard.

The trailer was cut in a way that made this film look much better than it was, with action combined with offensive humour that relied on stereotypes for laughs. If you're old and if you're Filipino, I'm not sure what inspired writer Dax Shepard to craft such episodes, but they certainly were in quite bad taste, considering he's not Sacha Baron Cohen in one of his deliberate provocative roles, having to co-direct this film with David Palmer and star in it as its lead protagonist Charlie Bronson.

Or Yul Perrkins, since his identity had to be changed once he entered a witness protection programmed, ready to testify against one time his former group of bank robbers, consisting of Alex (Bradley Cooper in dreadlocks), ex-fiancée Neve (Joy Bryant) and Alan (Ryan Hansen). Maintaining a low profile in a small town under the watchful eye of Calamity James US Marshal Randy Anderson (Tom Arnold), the film opens as we see him already in a relationship with Annie Bean (Kristen Bell, Dax's real life girlfriend, also serving as producer), who is being offered a teaching position in LOs Angeles. Breaking his cover to send her there and to lead a new life, Hit and Run becomes a road trip movie, where the couple has a jealous ex-boyfriend Gil Rathbinn (Michael Rosenbaum), two cops (Jess Rowland and Carly Hatter) and Alex and gang all going after them to further pursue their respective selfish interests.

But this film is something of a mixed bag, with pacing quite all over the place, and episodes that made it look like a 101 guide to a happy relationship. Underneath all the usual noise that pepper the romantic-action-comedy, Hit and Run had moments where it played out like a long session with a relationship therapist, where the couple had to pour out their inner most demons and fears, and look for the best of advice that's being dished out in order to rescue their relations. As Charles had kept his real identity and reason under witness protection a secret, each revelation proved to be a natural surprise for Annie, and become a crossroads of sorts whether it's time to continue sticking together, or bail.

Perhaps one of the best advice dished out is the notion of minding one's past and having one's relationship paralyzed because of it, or to continue with the present knowing that all walls and masks have been pulled down, and look forward into the future, making the best out of situations. This becomes the running theme in the movie as the couple try to escape from elements of the past, and through this ordeal determine whether they are better off at the end of it, or otherwise. And there are occasions where the dialogue is a little bit stiff, and the two going through the motions and their lines, even as the characters banter their insecurities and stereotyping. This despite having to share a real life, current relationship, but we see no chemistry coming through.

It's the supporting characters that steal the show from the leads, so thank goodness for that to keep us distracted from the rather uninteresting plotting. Michael Rosenbaum was sure as creepy as can be playing the ex who cannot let go, and being the catalyst that sparked off the entire chase, while Jess Rowland who plays his sheriff brother was quite the hoot in a pursuit of his own for reasons best kept under wraps. Tom Arnold though was a little bit too trying in his role as a calamity james type of officer with constant firearms problems, and Bradley Cooper probably had a field day with his chief villain role that didn't seem all too threatening.

For those into cars (most of which here are owned by Dax Shepard), then Hit and Run would be your kind of movie with a number of chase sequences that didn't offer much other than for the vehicles on display, from BMWs to souped up Lincolns, to burn serious rubber along roads and dirt tracks. The trailer made this movie seem a little fascinating, and I guess kudos to whoever dangled the carrot, but it failed to make it count when relied upon to deliver on its promise. It's certainly hit and run indeed.

I would also have loved to see this movie as a crime drama because of its plot and especially Bradley Cooper's Alex Dmitri. I thought his whole dog-loving criminal attitude was a breath of fresh air from the usual movie criminal personality.

That being said, my favorite character was Debbie, the MILF (at least she looks like one) that gets Annie the interview. She was great and hilarious. I also think Kristen Bell is an absolute star. Dax Shephard has a sort of commanding presence on screen and and it's why I'd like to see him in something along the drama/thriller/psychological horror genre.

Some other notes: The scenery on the drive from Milton to LA was lovely and I thought it was a great idea by the movie makers (you and your partner, I imagine) to film that one scene in the orange grove. Where were those road trip scenes? Central California Coast? Great scenery there.

My only criticism really is that I thought some of the violence was a little too violent for a comedy but that's just me. All in all, I thought it was a very funny & entertaining movie. I think the Shephard/Bell chemistry definitely comes across on screen and it'd be nice to see them in another movie together.

I tried hard to like this movie, cause I voluntarily took part in the arduous process of paying my money in hopes of this waste of celluloid to be a surprise good flick. But unfortunately, the movie drags and drags with sparse car chases. What fails here ?

1. Conversations to bore you to death:

Tarantino had the knack of putting in random conversations to build up to the scene which concludes a chapter in tightly packed script. Kevin Smith did that with his movies by riding along the movies with an engrossing topic of a conversation. This movie tries that. Fails miserably. Tries again...goes to over the top levels of face palm. Why? At some point it seemed like the actors were just asked to talk without a script. It was really painful.

2. Car Chase? Well thats it! :

There were probably two car chases in the movie which lacked every thing which a car chase should be. Plus the shaky cam thing is going way too far. Personally the whole car chases standards have been pushed way up by 'The French Connection' and 'Ronin'. Even 'Gone in 60 seconds' had some moments. This one fails to generate any sort of impact. There are no awe filled moments at all. It was worse than watching someone play a game of need for speed.

3. Whats with Tom Arnold?

Why was he even there in the movie? He was trying to be this fumbling idiot character. But he just grows more annoying by the minute. Some parts didn't even add up to anything. What the hell was with the bowling ball. Whats with him being gay on the app. What the hell was the point ?

4. Gay jokes:

The app to get hand jobs...the whole awkward discussion about being butt f**ked. Nothing...let me repeat...none of that was even the least bit funny.

Speaking of gay jokes though...the movie did kinda mentally sodomize me.

If I really paid attention to some stuffy movie critics I'd probably never see another movie in my life. Reviews riddled with technical jargon like screenplay this, and protagonist that bore me immensely when I just want to know, "will I regret paying $6-12 for the movie?".

With that being said let me tell you where I am coming from, the perspective of a good ole regular 30 year old black lady who watches more television then they should, and enjoys going to the movies at noon because at that time I don't have to worry about some jack ass propping their feet on the back of my chair. (and I can lay down across 3 seats).

Now to the task at hand, what did I think about Hit & Run? I thought is was a good movie, I was entertained and did not regret purchasing the movie ticket.

OK, Whats the Movie About?

Charlie is a self-named member of the witness protection program, hiding out in a small rural town where he enjoys a simple life of love, and days spent worrying over his buffoonish handler, Randy (Tom Arnold). Charlie's happy world begins to crack when Annie is offered a job developing her own curriculum at a university in Los Angeles – the home of Charlie's criminal past, and a lot of bad people who want to get even with him.

Trying to prove his love, Charlie dusts off his bad boy muscle car and scoops Annie for a high-speed run to her LA job interview. But when Annie's jealous ex-boyfriend Gil (Michael Rosenbaum) tries to undermine the happy exodus, he unwittingly brings down all the wrong kind of heat on the situation. Before long, Charlie and Annie's road trip is a high-speed chase, complete with shootouts, buried treasure, and…a dune buggy.

Dax Shepard is funny to me, and so is Kristen Bell. The fact that Dax and Kristen are a couple made their characters Charlie and Annie in the movie have a charming chemistry that you can only get by smashing (having sex) in real life.

Being a lover of classic cars just seeing that classic Lincoln rev around spoke to my soul.

Dax wore rugged, outlaw, bad-ass with a gentle side, pretty well. So well that he transcended from this lanky quirky white guy, to "hey, how you doin". Also, This movie just made it official that it's impossible for Bradley Cooper to be unattractive, even with a dredlock wig, and some played out Oakley's, we was still looking' good.

Yada yada yada yada...blah blah blah blah.... I like the movie.

HIT & RUN (dir. David Palmer and Dax Shepard) A humorous, well-written romantic comedy 'road movie' about a guy who decides to leave the witness protection program and drive his girlfriend to LA where they will start a new life together. She most relocate because she has a doctorate in 'conflict resolution' and UCLA has offered her the directorship of the only program of its kind, and the movie's 'hook' is that they'll be driving a 1967 Lincoln Continental with a customized 700-hp engine from northern California to LA. The film is chock full of clever jokes lampooning race and sexual orientation, and 'redneck' characters are duly redressed by conscientious liberals. Dax Shepard wrote, starred, did stunt driving, co-directed, and even recruited his real- life girlfriend, Kristen Bell, to co-star in the picture. The movie took only 10 weeks from plot outline to the final shot.