There are two types of comedies in the world, it seems: those are that funny on paper and those that are actually funny. Some are good to brilliant concepts that just misfire on every level whereas some take less than stellar concepts and hit on the clear majority of jokes. Unfortunately Hit & Run is neither of these; it’s a pedestrian action comedy where the jokes don’t quite hit.
Charles Bronson (Dax Shepard) is a reformed getaway driver turned house boyfriend to his college professor lover (Kristen Bell). Spending years in witness protection in a small town 500 miles away from Los Angeles, he’s thrown in a quandary when she’s offered a job back in the city he once left. Determined to leave federal protection, and the U.S Marshal (Tom Arnold) assigned to protect him, Bronson opts to risk it for his girl. Unfortunately the guy he testified against (Bradley Cooper) isn’t quite in the forgiving mood and now Bronson finds himself on the run from the feds and the crooks, girlfriend in tow.
It’s an interesting setup for a film, which mainly turns into a series of car chases and road trip sequences, but it’s not a new one. And while the cast has chemistry the one thing the film doesn’t have is comedy that works. That’s the film’s main problem as the film does so much right on the production level that it’s a shame.
Shepard, who wrote the film as well as co-directed it, is an interesting choice for an action lead as we’re used to seeing him in roles where he’s the idiot. He does it well enough that he’s almost typecast in the part by this point, which is a shame, and he does a lot of good things as Bronson. He’s not the one man army but he has a particular set of skills that allow him to be the hero type. It’s almost odd at points to see him play the hero as opposed to some sort of buffoon; this isn’t a brilliant performance but it’s an interesting one.
He also has terrific chemistry with Bell, whom he is in a romantic relationship outside of the film. It helps keep the film afloat during the sequences where they’re in the road trip phase of the film. These are the moments that are the film’s strong points as seeing this couple try and deal with the consequences of his past coming to life, and their reactions to it, would make for a much more interesting film than what comes out. It’s disappointing when the two leave the car to engage in action, or engage in a road chase, because the chemistry is there and the interest is there.
Hit & Run is a miss on nearly every level that matters and in a year of disappointments joins any number of films in that category for 2012.
Director: David Palmer and Dax Shepard
Writer: Dax Shepard
Notable Cast: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rosenbaum, Tom Arnold, Kristen Chenoweth, Beau Bridges
