Hit and Run 
Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold,Kristin Chenoweth
Directed by David Palmer & Dax Shepard
Rated: R Run Time: 100 mins Genre: Comedy/ Action
Opens August 22, 2012
By Lisa Minzey
Now that the summer is winding down, more of the quirky films that Hollywood reserves for the down season is gearing up. For this week screening, we checked out the new comedy “Hit and Run” from the producer of the Wedding Crashers, Andrew Panay & Dax Shepard serving up a triple threat as Screenwriter, Star and Co-Director, this is one ride that pretty crazy.
Annie (Kristen Bell) is facing a serious conundrum. Her boss Debbie (Kristin Chenoweth) has just offered her the opportunity of a life time; the opportunity to head and develop her own major/ department at a large university in Los Angeles. Annie is enthralled, but she is in a long term committed relationship with her boyfriend of one year, Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard). She needs to make this decision with him in mind long term, but due to Charlie’s placement in witness protection, moving her life to Los Angeles is something they need to discuss.
For Charlie, Annie is the only reason worth staying in the bumpkin, Northern California town he was placed in. The U.S. Marshall, Randy (Tom Arnold), who is assigned to Charlie, is not the brightest of people and tends to run a bit high strung, constantly placing himself and those around him in harms way.
Annie decides for the sake of their future that she won’t take the job and goes to tell her boss. Charlie knows that if she doesn’t take this position, Annie will have serious regrets and he refused to be the source of any pain for her. On a total whim, Charlie breaks all the rules that are meant to keep him safe, risking it all for the woman he loves. Annie is delighted that Charlie will be driving her to Los Angeles for the interview; along they way they can figure out the future details of their relationship.
One man who is none to pleased to hear that Annie is leaving, especially with Charlie, is her ex-boyfriend Gil. His secret hope is that one day (soon) that Annie will leave Charlie Bronson and come back to him. Gil begs Annie to stay when she drops by to get her teaching certificate that was left behind, but she declines and heads off with Charlie. On the verge of hyperventilating, Gil contacts his police officer brother, Terry, to run the plates on Charlie’s to get him detained. Through this whole order, Gil finds out Charlie’s true identity prior to entering witness protection, thus setting of a chain of events that will endanger Charlie, Annie and maybe him self after contacting the man that is the reason Charlie is in the position that he is, Alex Dimitri (Bradley Cooper).
Imagining the worst for Annie’s safety, Gil follows Charlie and Annie, ensuing one of many car chase scenes. When Gil taunts Charlie during a traffic stop, Annie overhears part of the conversation. This set in motion an information inquisition into Charlie’s prior life that makes Annie question the foundation that her relationship is built on. Will Annie make it to her dream job interview in time? Can Charlie make peace with his past as his future hangs by a thread?
Hit and Run is one of those quirky comedies that take the viewer on a wild comedy ride that will either leave the viewer wanting more or just happy to be over. For this review, it was worth the ride as it’s a fun story with terrific writing, great casting and with great cars to look at. Check it out when it opens in theaters when it opens Wednesday August 22nd.
