Hit and Run (2012 film)

Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard) is enrolled in Witness Protection, living in Milton, California under the supervision of incompetent U.S. Marshal Randy Anderson (Tom Arnold). Charlie's girlfriend Annie Bean (Kristen Bell) is a professor with a doctorate in Non-Violent Conflict Resolution. Her supervisor Debby Kreeger (Kristin Chenoweth) promises to fire her if she does not make it to a job interview with the University of California in Los Angeles.

Charlie, unable to return to Los Angeles since enrolling in Witness Protection, insists Annie take the interview without him. Instead, Annie returns to work to beg to keep her job, but Charlie picks her up in his souped-up, restored Lincoln Continental to take her to the interview.

Annie's ex-boyfriend Gil Rathbinn (Michael Rosenbaum), believing Charlie is in Witness Protection as a murderous criminal, urges her not to go; undeterred, Annie leaves with Charlie. Gil's brother Terry (Jess Rowland), a police officer, finds that Charlie's vehicle is registered to "Yul Clint Perrkins" — Charlie's real name. Gil discovers Charlie is a former getaway driver who testified in an unsuccessful case against his fellow bank robbers. Gil messages one of the defendants, Alexander Dmitri (Bradley Cooper), on Facebook, that he knows Yul Perrkins' location.

Randy pursues Charlie to L.A. Charlie and Annie confront Gil, who is following them, and Charlie tries to resolve the situation non-violently at Annie's insistence. Unmoved, Gil reveals that he knows Charlie's real name and has Alex Dmitri as a "Facebook friend". Charlie and Annie flee, running Randy off the road as he arrives. Alex sees Gil's message and gathers his fellow bank robbers Neve (Joy Bryant) and Alan (Ryan Hansen) to find Gil.

While Annie and Charlie stop for gas, the Continental's engine is admired by a redneck named Sanders (David Koechner). He follows them to a motel, and they discover in the morning that their engine has been stolen. Terry is gay.[6] He has mobile app that he uses to track gay contacts. When Terry stops speeding Randy's car, Randy turns up on his indicator.[7] Ambushed by Gil, Charlie knocks him out and realizes he was accompanied by Alex's crew. Charlie grabs the VIN of a Chevrolet Corvette in the parking lot and duplicates a keyless entry using the tools of his former trade; he and Annie flee in the Corvette, with Gil, Alex's crew, and Randy in hot pursuit. Annie and Charlie argue over his past, and he reveals that he was a getaway driver for 13 bank robberies and was engaged to Neve.

After escaping their pursuers, Annie confronts Charlie for lying to her and proceeds without him. Gil agrees to take her the rest of the way, but they are run off the road by Alex, who takes Annie hostage and calls Charlie, telling him to meet at a nearby diner. There, Alex demands money in exchange for Annie; they argue about Charlie's betrayal, cut short when Alex reveals that he was raped in prison and blames Charlie. Charlie agrees to take Alex to his stash of money hidden at the home of his estranged father Clint (Beau Bridges); en route, he calls Randy, now in the company of Terry – who is attracted to Randy – and his partner Angela Roth (Carly Hatter), with his father's address. The three pick up Gil along the way.

At Clint's house, Charlie and his father reconcile as they dig up his bag of money. His father mentions his Class 1 Off-Road racing vehicle, and attacks Alex’s crew as Charlie and Annie escape in the racer, just as Gil, Randy, Terry and Angela arrive. Randy manages to shoot Alex and arrests the thieves. Two other Marshals (Jason Bateman and Nate Tuck) take Alex's crew into custody, complimenting Randy and Terry’s work.

Charlie and Annie reconcile, and arrive in time for Annie's interview; Charlie offers to spend the rest of his life with Annie, and she accepts. Some months later, Randy and Terry, now in a relationship, take the Marshals' exam.

A stinger segment reveals Annie's interview with Professor Sandy Osterman (Sean Hayes). She interrupts him hotboxing his office, and is surprised he is not a woman as Debby had described. Osterman reveals Debby is his sister, and Annie sympathizes with him, earning his approval and an immediate job offer, which she accepts.

Distributed by Open Road, the film opened in theaters on August 22, 2012. The first official trailer was released on May 16, 2012.[9]

On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Hit and Run holds an approval rating of 49% based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 5.27/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though Hit & Run has some surprisingly oft-kilter filmmaking, the action doesn't add to much and the writing's a bit smug."[10] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[12]

Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 of 4 stars, writing, "With its off-the-shelf title, I had worked up less than a white-hot enthusiasm to see "Hit & Run," but it's a lot more fun than the title suggests. How many chase comedies have you seen where the hero's sexy girlfriend has a doctorate in nonviolent conflict resolution? Her counseling would have been invaluable to the U.S. marshal (Tom Arnold) in an early scene where he attempts to shoot his own van."[13] Film critic Richard Roeper gave the film an "F", calling it an unfunny comedy movie from start to finish.[14]

The film soundtrack was commercially released as the Hit and Run (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on August 21, 2012.

Songs not included within the soundtrack

• "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" – performed by Glenn Medeiros

• Official website
• Hit and Run at IMDb
• Hit and Run at AllMovie
• Hit and Run at Box Office Mojo
• Hit and Run at Rotten Tomatoes
• Hit and Run at Metacritic