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Parents' Guide to

Hit & Run

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Real-life couple has chemistry in raunchy car-chase flick.

Movie R 2012 100 minutes
Hit & Run Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Desiree T.
Desiree T. Parent of 17-year-old
June 28, 2017
age 17+

Awesome Movie

this movie was very funny
Shivom Oza
Shivom Oza Adult
August 30, 2012
age 14+

Hit And Run (2012) Review by Shivom Oza – Caught!

1.5/5 Stars ‘Hit And Run’ is a film about a young man, Yul Perrkins/Charles Bronson running away from his murky past, who is trying to start a new life with his girlfriend Annie Bean. Currently in a witness protection program, there are a few aspects of his past that is girlfriend is unaware of. Enter the horrific criminal, Alex Dmitri! It’s mildly entertaining in patches. The problem is that these patches are too few and far in between. Predictable plot, lacklustre dialogue and a cringe-worthy Bradley Cooper! A young couple, Charles Bronson (Dax Shepard) and Annie Bean (Kristen Bell), are leading a hassle-free life. Charles, a former abettor in bank robberies, is in a Witness Protection program and Annie teaches at a college. Charles is assigned a clumsy United States Marshal, Randy Anderson (Tom Arnold), for protection. Things are going fine until Annie has to give a job interview for the post of heading a department at a college in Los Angeles. She has to relocate and Charles, who has been hiding the truth from his wife all along about his real identity, faces a dilemma. After much deliberation, he agrees to drive his girlfriend to LA. Problems arise when Annie’s suspecting ex-boyfriend Gil Rathbinn (Michael Rosenbaum) is anguished at the prospect of losing his former lady love and gets Charles’ old accomplice Alex Dmitri (Bradley Cooper) to know about his whereabouts. What follow is a sequence of car chases, gunshots, kidnappings, confrontations, accidents and eventually, justice is meted out to everyone concerned. The plot, albeit good, wasn’t done justice to from the writers and the actors. Kristen Bell was just about passable in the film. Else, Dax Shepard, Michael Rosenbaum, Bradley Cooper and the rest of the supporting cast, just amble away on the screen without much purpose. Some of the dialogues are bizarre and totally out-of-place. Even the chemistry between the lead couple (also dating in real life) is bland. The car-chases have been shot excellently. There are a couple of slow-motion shots which look brilliant on the big screen. The score is amusing, to say the least. There’s a scene in which a police vehicle catches the Marshal Gil’s car for speeding and you have a song playing in the background (sounding like a typical 80s Bollywood number). And, you’re left flabbergasted. Director David Palmer and Dax Shepard (now you know!), deliver bad writing and extract poor performances from the cast. Would you want to watch Bradley Cooper, with golden braided hair, hamming away to badly-written dialogue? No! Shivom Oza

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Annie (Kristen Bell) is a small-town California professor who's offered the opportunity of her career if she agrees to move to Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Annie, her boyfriend, Charlie (Dax Shepard), is under witness protection; but he agrees to risk his life by visiting the city where the crime he witnessed was committed. Annie's ex-boyfriend, Gil (Michael Rosenbaum), finds out that Charlie was actually a getaway driver and contacts Alex Dimitri (Bradley Cooper), the bank robber Charlie betrayed. With Alex and Gil on his trail, Charlie rushes to evade his pursuers and get Annie to her interview -- even if it means telling her the whole truth about his past.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (8 ):

Many off-screen couples fail to generate any heat on camera, but there's a genuine chemistry between real-life twosome Shepard and Bell that makes the romantic parts of the film work. The opening scene in bed seems improvisational and authentic, as if it's exactly the kind of conversation the actors would have while cuddling in the morning. As writer and co-director, Shepard clearly has an eye for how to make his beloved shine; even when other aspects of the movie falter a bit, Bell is always charming and adorable as the goody-two-shoes half of the relationship.

As for the action-comedy half of HIT & RUN, it's like an old-school car-chase caper, complete with a likeable supporting cast (Cooper looks hilarious as a dreadlocked surfer-criminal, and Tom Arnold is surprisingly winning as a bumbling U.S. Marshal assigned to protect Charlie) and several pulse-quickening chase sequences. What's surprising is that despite the occasional raunch and violence, the movie is really about the intimacy and honesty required in a long-term romance. The rape and race jokes will be a dealbreaker for some, but if you're not easily offended, this could be a guilty pleasure pick.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Hit & Run's blend of romance and action. What resonated with you more -- the romantic comedy between Annie and Charlie, or the action comedy with the car chases and criminal involvement?

  • Why do you think the filmmakers chose to include full-frontal nudity here? Why do so many R-rated comedies have nonsexual nudity? Would they be better without it?

  • Are the characters' comments about date rape and prison rape meant to be comical? If so, is that OK? What about Charlie's discussion of different kinds of men and their stereotypes? Is that funny or offensive? Why?

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