Aug 24 2012 – At its core Hit & Run meets all the basic requirements of a car chase comedy. The happy couple in crisis, check. The ex boyfriend desperate to win her back, check. The shady getaway team looking to settle a score, check. Beautiful cars, check. An assortment of bumbling side characters that help advance the plot line with safe comedic under tones, check. Yes, Hit & Run is more run than hit. Writer, director and actor Dax Shepard crafts a plausible offering with a solid cast to pull it off but runs out of gas long before the final credits.
The long and short of it is, Dax Shepard (Charlie) plays a getaway driver with multiple pseudonyms who leaves the witness protection program to take his girlfriend to Los Angeles in pursuit of her dream job. Girlfriend, Kristen Bell(Annie) works hard to flush out the one dimensional character as her penchant for political correctness become a major point of contention with Charlie. The getaway crew (led by a bohemian Rastafarian looking Bradley Cooper) are hot on their trail. Throw in Tom Arnold, Beau Bridges, and Kristen Chenoweth and you have the makings of another made for TV movie.
Hit & Run makes up for its slow pacing with an outstanding Tarantino-esque Motown inspired soundtrack and a scene stealing turn from Kristen Chenoweth whose injection of educational and pharmaceutical humour was much needed. But even these fleeting highlights could not overcome a weak script.
In the end, Hit & Run is a chase comedy with very little horse power.
Verdict: 2.5 / 5
