Hit and Run

Over the 1970s and 1980s, a sub-genre of flicks came along that audiences ate up. They weren't road movies in the typical sense, but instead on steroids a bit. Think of movies like Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, The Getaway, Midnight Run and many others along with TV shows like The Dukes of Hazzard.. What if you combined all those movies? Then you'd get the oddly appealing, very entertaining 2012 flick Hit and Run.

Living in a quiet California town, Charles Bronson (Dax Shepard) has been dating his girlfriend, Annie (Kristen Bell), for almost a year. They've got a great thing going, impressive considering Annie knows Charlie is in the Witness Protection Program after testifying against several bank robbers he witnessed robbing a bank. There's a problem though. Annie has been offered her dream job in Los Angeles, and she doesn't want to leave Charlie behind. Knowing how much it means to her, he decides to go with to L.A., but ah, there are more layers to discover. Annie's ex, Gil (Michael Rosenbaum), suspects Charlie is up to something and starts to dig into his mysterious past. As they head for L.A., someone from Charlie's past (Bradley Cooper) is on their trail. What hasn't he been telling Annie?

I'll give credit where it's due. Dax Shepard has come a long way from being Ashton Kutcher's henchman on MTV's Punk'd in 2003. He's transitioned that supporting part on a prank show into a legitimate actor on film and television. That's not all. On top of his acting, Shepard also directed (with David Palmer), produced, and wrote the script for this flick with a retro, throwback feel to it. He shows a knack for doing all those things well, a solid directorial debut.

The biggest appeal is that retro/throwback feel to so many similar flicks from the 1970s and 1980s. Yes, there is a story -- however shallow and/or simplistic -- is a means to an end. It's nothing more than to get the story going toward a never-ending, fast paced series of car chases with lots of badass cards and funny, cool one-liners. I find that very appealing. 'Hit' isn't trying to rewrite the formula or carve out a niche for itself as a new end-all, be-all flick. It's goal is simple. It wants to entertain the hell out of you, and for me, it succeeds in a big way. Some of the humor can be pretty low-brow while other times it's surprisingly smart, but who am I kidding? You don't go into a movie like this expecting to see anything groundbreaking. Just sit back and enjoy the very cool, very fast cars gunning across the country after you.

Maybe a little surprising for me was that the story is actually pretty good here. A real-life couple outside of acting, Shepard and Bell have a very natural, easy-going chemistry with each other. Maybe they're just being themselves, but they're a believable enough couple. Their couple/relationship story works because of the general craziness of Shepard's Charlie's past. (Sidenote: He chose Charles Bronson as his Witness Protection name because his real name, 'Yul Perrkins,' wasn't tough enough). I suppose this is a semi-SPOILER, but Charlie/Yul didn't just testify in a bank robbing case....he turned on his former bank robbing accomplices (including Cooper). Charlie and Annie are forced to figure out how important they are to each other, and oh yeah, some bank robbing thugs with guns are after them. It's kinda goofy, kinda sweet, and always funny.

Pretty much across the board, the casting here is....shall I say oddly appealing? Cooper shows off his versatility as the Hurley-wearing, dreadlock-toting bank robber Alex Dmitri in a surprisingly funny part. Joy Bryant and Ryan Hansen play Neve and Alan, two other members of Alex's crew. Completely out of left field, the usually shrill, annoying Tom Arnold is a scene-stealer in a good way as Randy, a U.S. Marshal with Witness Protection assigned to watch over Charlie. His general clumsiness and nerves provides some good laughs as well as his ability with a pistol. There's also a funny sub-plot with Gil's gay brother (Jess Rowland),  a cop and his partner (Carly Hatter). Also look for Beau Bridges in a funny part as Charlie's Dad with Kristin Chenoweth, David Koechner, and Sean Hayes all making quick appearances. Even Jason Bateman makes a one-scene cameo.

No real point in analyzing this one too much. It's funny, entertaining and has a lot that certainly looks like they're having a hell of a lot of fun. I went in with low expectations for this one, but I liked it a lot. Surprisingly good flick with a lot of laughs.

Hit and Run (2012): ***/****

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The first time around with the classic Freaks and Geeks on TV audiences missed out on Judd Apatow's unique sense of humor. All it took to get him noticed was two highly thought of comedies, The 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, with a string of other movies to his name as a producer and now moviegoers know who he is. I'm surprised by some reactions to him because I love the sometime bizarre humor his movies have. But looking at them as a whole, most of them have a heart, something comedies too often skip by.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one Apatow's movies where he's the producer, and it jumps ahead of all his other movies as the funniest yet. Comedies can be difficult to judge because humor is so different from person to person. Something you find hysterical can fly right over someone else's head. But FSM had so many laugh out moments I'd find it hard to believe that it couldn't produce a couple chuckles from even the most serious moviegoer. What works is that the characters are real people placed in real-life situations with some off the wall results.

Peter Bretter (star and writer Jason Segel) just got dumped by his TV star girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). After three weeks of refusing to move on from the break-up, Peter goes on a vacation, going to Hawaii only to discover that Sarah is there with her new boyfriend and the guy she was cheating with, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), an English pop star known for his prowess with women as much as his music. It seems nothing can go right for Peter, but he hits it off with a hotel employee, Rachel (Mila Kunis), and goes from there as he tries to get over his heartbreak.

That plot doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs, but it's these awkward situations that do produce some of the funniest moments. Peter just wants to move on with his life but can't seem to buy any good luck. Some of the humor comes from really quick, lightning fast moments that don't have a lot of build-up, they hit you and move on. Here's IMDB's Memorable Quotes and then some worthy break-up advice from the movie.

Since his role in Freaks and Geeks, Segel's been one of my favorites whether as a supporting player like Knocked Up or his starring roles like here and I Love You, Man. He's funny without mugging for the camera, and it's usually his delivery that sells the jokes. Russell Brand goes down the more obvious route, the over the top sexed-up pop singer, and is hysterical because he commits to being completely ridiculous. Bell has the most serious of the 4 main parts, but even she gets some really funny parts. The big surprise here is Kunis as basically the most perfect girl...ever. Most people know her from That 70s Show where she played a loud, annoying, very shrill teenager, but she shows what she can do with a well-written part. Her looks are not in question, but she's funny, very natural and makes an ideal girlfriend.

The 4 lead roles are solid, but like so many other Apatow movies, it's the little cameo parts that take the movie from funny to hysterical. Bill Hader plays Peter's stepbrother who keeps in touch via webcam, Maria Thayer and Jack McBrayer are Mormon newlyweds staying at the same hotel as Peter, Jonah Hill is an adoring waiter who loves Aldous and just wants to be around him, Paul Rudd is a pot-smoking surf instructor named Chuck or Konuu (Chuck in Hawaiian, 'You sound like you're from London!), and Kristen Wiig plays a sarcastic yoga instructor, check out her scene here. These parts go in and out of the story and aren't key to the main story between Peter, Sarah and Rachel, but they keep the momentum going.

The humor isn't as filthy here as it was in some other Apatow productions, but it isn't exactly clean, good old-fashioned humor either. Check out the gag reel from the DVD for some of the best laughs, especially the last one with Segel and Hader in the bar as much for Segel's reaction as anything else. It's a funny movie all around and should definitely have something for everyone.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall <----trailer (2009): ***/****