Fast-Paced and Enjoyable: Hit & Run

Dax Shepard did it all for Hit & Run, including starring in, writing, and co-directing the film. And he did it all well. Hit & Run is a surprisingly fun and fresh new action/comedy. Filled with fun action scenes and characters and a fast-paced plot, Hit & Run is much more enjoyable than its television trailers let on.

Shepard (TV's Parenthood and Idiocracy) plays Charlie Bronson, a former bank robber living under a false name in a witness protection program after becoming the prosecution's key witness against his friends and fellow bank robbers in a case four years earlier. Since coming to a rather sleepy little town in northern California his life has been low-key and drama-free. For the past year, he has been in a committed relationship with community college professor Annie (Kristen Bell of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and When in Rome), although Annie knows very little of Charlie's past except for the fact that he is in witness protection. She assumes that he is living under a false identity and is under protection of a U.S. marshal because he witnessed a crime, not because he actively took part in committing many crimes. Charlie is content to spend his days hiding out in their shabby-chic farmhouse, but Annie has bigger aspirations. Her boss insists that she is too qualified to continue teaching in her current position and further insists that she interview for the position of head of the new Non-Violent Conflict Resolution Department at a far more prestigious university in Los Angeles.

Despite her reluctance to want to put Charlie in an awkward and potentially dangerous situation by returning to the city that he once ran from, Annie agrees to take the interview at Charlie's behest. Charlie and Annie set off together for L.A. with a trail of people following them. His appointed U.S. marshal protector and friend Randy (Tom Arnold of True Lies and Soul Plane) desperately wants to look after Charlie the best that he can and pursues him across the state, as does Annie's jealous ex-boyfriend Gil (Michael Rosenbaum of TV's Smallville and Urban Legend), who uncovers Charlie's true identity through the help of his state trooper brother Terry (Jess Rowland of Smother and Brother's Justice).

After making the discovery of Charlie's true identity as the former felon Yul Perkins, Gil contacts Charlie's old comrades and lets them know of his whereabouts. Along with his girlfriend and another mutual friend, Alex Dmitri (Bradley Cooper of The Hangover and The A-Team) is extremely eager to catch up with Charlie and execute his revenge for having been betrayed by him. With all of the animosity, it's comical that Annie and her non-violent conflict resolution expertise is caught in the middle of it.

The acting in Hit & Run is actually quite good despite some of the really goofy characters that are portrayed. Real-life couple Shepard and Bell have great chemistry as a couple trying to overcome his very complicated past. Arnold is great as a U.S. marshal who clearly doesn't have it all together. Kristin Chenoweth (TV's Pushing Daisies and You Again) has a small role as Annie's boss and she commands it, as does Beau Bridges (The Descendants and The Fabulous Baker Boys), who stars in a small role as Charlie's dad. Finally, Cooper is surprising as a ridiculous felon in dreadlocks, a far cry from his typical pretty-boy type roles.

Hit & Run has equal parts unbelievable chase scenes, comedic situations, and likable characters and it has a fun soundtrack to go with it, as well. There is a refreshing balance to what this film offers viewers and the tempo of the plot events is spot on. It certainly is a bit raunchy, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. Despite not being well hyped, Hit & Run is a film worth viewing.

Rated R

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