Hit & Run

Review by Anthony Morris

Charles Bronson (Dax Shepard, who wrote the script and co-directs) is having a surprisingly enjoyable time in witness protection.

He’s got Annie (Kristen Bell, Shephard’s real-life partner), a gal who loves him, and the officer assigned to his case (Tom Arnold) is a nice guy, even if he runs around shooting his gun wildly when there are kids around.

That scene’s meant to be funny but is just kind of odd, which is a tone you’ll be getting a lot more of as this film goes on.

But when Annie is offered her dream job out west, therein lies a problem: if he goes with her, even just to the interview, he’ll be violating the terms of his protection. He doesn’t want to let her go and anyway, it’s been years – surely the heat’s died down by now?

Charlie and Annie’s cross country race turns out to be pretty much the opposite of low-profile though, and it turns out crime boss Alex Dmitri (Bradley Cooper) isn’t someone who forgets, let alone forgives.

This is a strange one, and the fact the star pretty much put it together single-handedly (most of the name cast are friends of his) is a pretty good guide as to how it made it to cinemas at all.

That doesn’t make it a bad film though; just a wildly uneven one.

It’s a cross between a road movie and a romance, only it’s a lot more into the road stuff than movies like this usually are these days, so if you want to see a bunch of muscle cars and a fair amount of stunt work this is work a look on that level alone.

Some of the scenes are good: Shepard and Bell play off each other nicely once there’s a bit of friction in the relationship.

Some are not: Cooper is nowhere near threatening enough even when he’s beating up people twice his size. Overall it’s not exactly satisfying, but at least it’s different – and Shepard sure does love his cars.

2.5 out of 5

Hit & Run
Australian release: 6th September, 2012
Official Site: Hit & Run
Cast: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Kristin Chenoweth, David Koechner, Michael Rosenbaum, Beau Bridges
Director: Dax Shepard, David Palmer