BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I remember first reading about “Hit and Run” awhile back. I was never a “Punk’d” fan, but over the past few years I’ve become a big fan of Dax Shepard. He was awesome in “Idocracy” and he does a damn fine job on “Parenthood”. He’s still a bit under the radar, but he’s on his way. This movie is another step forward. He wrote it, co-directed it, and stars in it. He plays a guy who has a new life after joining Witness Protection. He’s with a lovely girl, played by the always fantastic Kristen Bell, and all is well. This changes when she gets her dream job in LA. She doesn’t want to leave him so she is ready to decline the offer. He feels guilty and wants her happy so he ditches town with her, a bad ass car, and with hilarity and hijinks ensuing. The officer assigned to protect him, Tom Arnold, is his friend and has to make sure he’s safe. He chases after him, but keeps running into his own side story of funny stuff. She has an ex-boyfriend, Michael Rosenbaum, who is chasing after them too. He does some research and figures out Shepard’s character is on the run. He tells the bad guy, Bradley Cooper in a role you REALLY need to see. Cooper has blond dread locks and looks almost as ridiculous as he acts. It’s a fun character for sure. There is a few other people in the movie that I recognized of note like Joy Bryant, of “Parenthood” fame, David Koechener of everything funny in the past ten years fame, Beau Brides, Kristen Chenoweth, Sean Hayes, Jess Rowland, and a fun cameo by Jason Bateman. Movies like this are often not that fun. The title “Hit and Run” makes it sound like it’s a “Fast and Furious” type of movie, but it’s got the grit of an indie, the charm of a good rom com, and some over the top stuff that’s just funny. The characters in a movie like this are often one note and bland. That’s not the case here. Dax Shepard has a great bounce of dialog that actually reminds me a little of Kevin Smith and a little of Woody Allen. I’m a fan of the wordy introspective humor and there is plenty of that here. It’s just a smart movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It wears its heart on its sleeve and doesn’t shy away from being emotional at times. It’s not a sappy movie or anything, but there is more substance to this movie than a lower budget comedy like this would have. It’s either super artsy indie film or cheesy low rent non-classic “National Lampoon” movie. There is a very remarkable balance here and it’s going to pay off in the end. Wiki says it had a $2 million dollar budget and made over $14 million. That’s awesome. Its good credit to everyone involved and it’s one of those movies that are going to catch on in time. It’s too entertaining and good to not get noticed in the long run. Either way, I want to see more Dax movies in the future. Watch this movie and tell your friends. B+
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