Review of Hit & Run (2012) by Alex B — 27 Aug 2012

It's extremely difficult to make a movie for 2 million dollars. You've got equipment, set design, camera and crew fees, catering, editing, stunts, wardrobe, writers, directors, and at some point, you have to pay the cast of Hollywood stars that ultimately get people in the seats. Yet somehow "Hit and Run," starring Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Beau Bridges, Tom Arnold, and Dax Shepard, who also wrote and co-directed this small budgeted piece of fine entertainment along with David Palmer, managed to get it all done for that moderately small fee.

How you might ask? Well for one, Kristen Bell just so happens to be Shepard's fiance; they've been together for the past 5 years. I can't imagine it being too difficult to talk your future bride into being the star of a film you're making. And two, Tom Arnold and Shepard are close pals in real life. They serve as official Master of Ceremonies together for at-risk inner-city youths at the Inner-City Games and Hollenbeck Youth Center's Miracle on 1st Street Toy Giveaway Program in East Los Angeles. So when you've got the two biggest stars, besides yourself, in your pocket, a little charity acting isn't too much to ask for.

The entire film is fun and exciting, with lots of laughs and action along the way. The other cast members do a good job supporting Shepard, Bell, and his 1967 Lincoln Continental - Lady Lincoln as it's called by Bell - which he does his own stunts for, since the self-professed petrolhead first began writing the movie with his car in mind. Bridges, like the majority of his acting career, stands out and adds to the film's continuity. Even Michael Rosenbaum's character as the jealous ex-boyfriend, who ultimately sets the wheels in motion for this high-speed caper, does a great job being "that guy.".

The best part about "Hit and Run" is its realism; the idea that something like this could actually happen in real life. On top of that, the stunts aren't exaggerated, the acting isn't ridiculous, even the dialogue is believable. Shepard didn't have to go all Michael Bay on us and blow everything up. He proved that a decent motion picture with a good cast, a sound script, and a funny, action packed romantic plot can be made and without it costing what it would take to feed an entire third world country for more than a century.