Hit & Run is the kind of remedial Quentin Tarantino film that was getting made by scores of directors in the years immediately following the 1994 release of Pulp Fiction.
That's not as insulting as it sounds. We could probably use more clever writing and lively action on a tight shooting schedule and scant budget. You start to see things like politically incorrect dialogue and real car wrecks -- no time or money for CGI when your star, director, writer and editor are all the same person.
That would be Dax Shepard, a comedic actor who historically is often the best thing in a bad movie. Shepard is Charlie Bronson, a talented driver in witness protection, trying to keep a good thing going with girlfriend Annie (Kristen Bell).
When Annie gets a dream job in Los Angeles, Charlie decides to follow, as a growing cast of cops, robbers and other meddlers get in their way.
Shepard is an engaging actor who looks convincing behind the wheel. But he's arguably strongest as a writer here, offering takes on car culture, gay dating apps and the casual use of homophobic slurs. When the characters are sitting around talking, the film cruises along nicely.
Clearly some favors were called in for this film, which features a glimpse of Jason Bateman, and Bradley Cooper in a supporting role as bad guy Alex Dmitri.
Kristin Chenoweth owns all of her scenes as Annie's diminutive but foulmouthed community college boss.
But the real star is Shepard's 1967 Lincoln Continental, a car so boss its desecration is arguably the emotional core of the movie.
The makers of Hit & Run didn't have the time or resources to choreograph elaborate chases. But as we already learned in Dazed and Confused, there's still no special effect that can match a rumbling American motor while Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion plays in the background.
