• Shepard and Bell
• The Script
• Actors Trying to be Funny
• Shepard's many hats
• Memorable Comedy

Director: Dax Shepard
Writers: David Palmer and Dax Shepard
Producers: Andrew Panay, Nate Tuck, Kim Waltrip, Jim Casey, and Dax Shepard
Actors: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Michael Rosenbaum, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, and Kristin Chenoweth
Original Music by: Robert Mervak and Julian Wass
Cinematographer: Bradley Stonesifer
Editors: Keith Croket and Dax Shepard

When a film is good, it is usually praised by many famous critics and entertainment sources; Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, Entertainment Weekly, and TIME Magazine are a few that come to mind. However, when a not-so-good film pretends to be a good film, the praise starts coming from more obscure sources.

“Bradley Cooper is ridiculously funny! Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are magic!” – Myspace.

When a film has to rely on Myspace to give them a good review, that can’t be good news.

Plot Synopsis

Former getaway driver Charlie Bronson a.k.a. Yul Perrkins (Dax Shepard) abandons his Witness Protection Program identity in order to help his girlfriend (Kristen Bell) get to Los Angeles for the opportunity of a lifetime. His former gang leader (Bradley Cooper), his girlfriend’s ex-lover (Michael Rosenbaum), and a United States Marshal (the bumbling, past-his-prime Tom Arnold) chase after them.

The Good

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s Chemistry

Like the Myspace user said, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard really do have a great chemistry together. They compliment each other well on screen, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they are a couple in real life. Even though the scenes are poorly written, their shared screen time is the highlight of the movie.

The Bad

The Script

Dax Shephard wrote the script, as well as produced, directed and starred in the film. Shephard is a great comedic actor, and I have enjoyed him in plenty of movies (Baby Mama and Employee of the Month being a couple of them). Unfortunately, his humor doesn’t translate well into his Hit and Run script. Sure, I chuckled at a couple of moments in the film, but for the most part it’s filled with dumbed-down humor. The parts of the film that were supposed to be serious and dramatic fell flat and felt painfully awkward and overly scripted.

Actors Trying Too Hard To Be Funny

In 2010, Shepard wrote, produced, directed, and starred in a film called Brother’s Justice. The film also starred Tom Arnold, Bradley Cooper, Jess Rowland, Ryan Hansen, and David Koechner. In Hit and Run, all these actors made an appearance, either as a supporting character or a cameo. I don’t have a problem with directors reusing actors that they like (Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have made many great films together). The problem is, every actor mentioned above, with the exception of Shepard, attempted to make their performance memorable by trying too hard to be funny. All the actors trying to get a laugh from the audience was a little overwhelming at times. They made me want to hurry up and finish the movie rather than watch and enjoy it.

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5

After watching Hit and Run, it was easy to see why the marketing team had to look all the way back into the stone age of Myspace to find something good that someone had said about the film. The one good thing I can say is that Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard do work well together (and perhaps in another film with a stronger script, their chemistry can be even stronger). Shepard did a commendable job of juggling his positions as director, producer, and lead actor. Overall, Hit and Run was more of a miss than a hit, and felt more like a Smokey and the Bandit rip-off than an original comedy.

‘Hit and Run’ Trailer