Hit and Run

If ten years ago you were to tell me that Dax Shepard, that annoying guy from Punk'd, was to go on to have a fully-fledged Hollywood career, I would've slapped you across the face and called you a filthy liar. But here we are; Shepard has appeared in numerous big budget comedies, and now with Hit And Run not only is he the star, getting billing ABOVE Bradley Cooper, but he’s also the writer and co-director. Wonders never cease…

Shepard is Charlie Bronson, who is in the witness protection programme and living the small town life with his girlfriend Annie (Shephard’s real-life fiancé Kristen Bell). When Annie is offered a fantastic job opportunity in Los Angeles, Charlie offers to drive her to the interview. But this seemingly innocuous drive leads to plenty of complications, as Charlie’s assigned protector/Federal Marshall (Tom Arnold), Annie's ex-boyfriend (Michael Rosenbaum) and Charlie’s ex-best friend/the reason he's in witness protection (Bradley Cooper) all hunt the couple down for their individual reasons. What follows is a protracted cross-country car chase as the couple try to outrun their pursuers, but slowly realise they can’t outrun their own pasts.

Shepard and Bell have some lovely chemistry together, and peppered across the movie are real and insightful arguments that real couples have; Charlie’s heart is the right place, but he constantly says the wrong thing, and Annie constantly correcting him could have made her come off like a bitter harpy, but Bell plays the role perfectly and manages to remain adorable. Arnold and Cooper are both fine in their supporting roles, but neither leave much of an impression, aside from the sight of Cooper uglified up in some truly hideous blonde dreadlocks.

Whilst there is nothing terribly bad about Hit And Run, it is billed as an action-comedy-romance, but for a car chase movie, there's not a single car crash, and for a comedy, it’s really not all that funny. But the romance part does ring true, and despite it's overwhelming averageness, you will find yourself routing for this couple. Oh, and it also has one of the best soundtracks of the year.