Film Review #2: Hit and Run

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard

Along with last week's free screening to For a Good Time, Call I also saw an advanced screening of Hit and Run (thanks again to Alliance Films and Scene Creek). Dax Shepard (of Parenthood and Punk'd) wrote, co-directed and stars in this action/comedy. The film also stars the lovely and hilarious Kristen Bell. Shepard and Bell have fantastic chemistry, which really shouldn't surprise anyone because they are real life snuggle buddies.

The film follows Charles Bronson (Shepard) who is currently living in a small town with his girlfriend Annie (Bell) and is living under witness protection. Charles has to threaten his safety when Annie gets a job offer in LA and he must come out of hiding in order to drive her to her interview. This sets off a string of events that puts the couple in danger. This also forces Charles to utilize some fancy driving techniques, which I hear Dax Shepard did himself (impressive!).

The film also stars Tom Arnold as a bumbling federal marshal who is protecting Charles while he is in witness protection. Bradley Cooper plays the man that Charles is hiding from. Going into the movie I wasn't sure if I would be able to buy Cooper as the "bad guy" but after a scene involving dog food this was cleared up quite quickly.

This film is really enjoyable. I am not the biggest fan of action films - they really need to have a good strong story for me to care about them. Car chases and explosions don't really do it for me. However, this film had a great story and wasn't your typical action/car-chase film. The characters were engaging and dynamic and they all had fantastic chemistry. I'm not sure how well this film will do in the box office  because it has gotten such little promotion but if you see it playing at your local theatre I highly recommend it.