Hit & Run is a classic “hidden secret” film. i.e. we all have to guess why something is the way it is. The hidden secret format is a decent gambit for screenwriters because it forces players to change, react and grow. Let’s face it: artificially induced character development is better than none at all. The drawback is movie players generally have 1/10th the number of reactions as one finds in the human experience, because, simply put, if “oh, by the way, I’m gay” is met with a blasé response as it is so often in real life (well it is where I live), the plot doesn’t advance.
Instead you get conversations like this:
“Honey, I forgot to tell you … I stopped the paper.”
“Why did you stop the paper?”
“Because the paperboy kept falling in my trap.”
“Why did you build a trap?!”
“Because I’m no longer allowed to shoot a gun.”
“Why were you shooting a gun?!!”
“Because the cougar I released was trying to eat me.”
“Why did you release a cougar …?!?!”
None of this is actual plot or dialogue; I made that up, but you see where this is going.
Annie (Kristin Bell) gets an offer for a professorship heading a sociology department in non-violent conflict resolution at a Los Angeles institution of some sort. Her lover, Charles Bronson (!) (Dax Shepard), can’t go back to L.A. We can’t know why; we just know he’s in witness protection. But the Charles Bronson part is now a bit clearer.
Chasing this duo southward is Charles’ witness protection marshal Randy (Tom Arnold), and Annie’s ex-lover, and some random bad guys headed by a dreadlocked Bradley Cooper. And, oh yeah, there’s a gay police officer trolling for offers with an app called “Panther.”
I imagine most will see this film as a comic hit and miss, like when Randy shows in the open scene, fails to initiate the parking brake and chases his car down a hill while trying shoot out the tires. He misses the car with every shot, but does manage to take out some windows from the picnicking family next door.
Personally, I found the best moments of Hit & Run completely irrelevant to the plot … like when Annie and Charles, on the run, burst into a motel room full of naked 50-something swingers … or when we’re introduced to Bradley Cooper, animal rights activist badass enforcer. It works more than it doesn’t. I don’t think that (screenwriter) Dax Shepard knows thing 1 about non-violent conflict resolution, which is a shame because that’s one of the reasons I go to movies. Still, Annie’s tempering of Charles made for a more entertaining movie than the standard chase ‘n’ shoot
A gal and her fella think it’s swell
To take on the road trip from Hell
Life will never be the same
Now what was her name?
I forget, but her face rings a Bell
Rated R, 100 Minutes
D: David Palmer, Dax Shepard
W: Dax Shepard
Genre: Road trip blues
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Relocated witnesses
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The Mob
