Aloha (2015)

Have you ever fallen asleep during a movie, just for like 15 minutes, and then wake up and wonder if you've missed something significant? That's how a good portion of Aloha felt like. Hell, the first 15 minutes of the movie I was wondering if maybe I had missed something. Was I late to the movie?

I can see why Aloha has been getting beat up by the critics. It's so scattered and disjointed. Most of the movie I'm trying to tie things together that the movie should be doing. I have no problem with having to figure things out on your own, but this was a case where it was just too distracting. It felt like large chunks of the movie and character interaction was missing. Left on the editing floor perhaps?

It's also super melodramatic, which is magnified by the fact that you don't have a deep understanding of all the character relationships. It's all forced and felt rushed. It's like when they bring out your entree at that same time as your salad and appetizers. Don't force feed me everything at once.

This also had the distinction of have a fantastic cast, but somehow nearly everyone (except maybe for Rachel McAdams) felt miscast. It's a shame because I felt like the actors were trying, but the direction, or the script, or the editing really let them down. On the other hand, can you imagine Emma Stone or Rachel McAdams instead of Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire?

I will admit that I kind of liked the ending. It was surprisingly emotional, but in a better movie where I was more invested, it would have affected me more. I also really liked the music, but that doesn't give the story a pass.

Aloha is one of those films that feels a lot longer than it actually is. I thought I'd been watching the film for well over two hours by the time it was all over (it's a hour and 45 minutes).

It's not the kind of bad where you feel insulted or anything like that, it just doesn't work as well as you'd like. This is a rental. Maybe if we get a director's cut it might flow a little better, so hopefully we'll get something like that. Otherwise, watch The Descendants instead. It's a better movie set in Hawaii.

2 (out of 5) Death Stars

American Hustle (2013)

There are times when a movie begins, whether it's from the look, the music, or atmosphere, you know you're in for something that's going to transport you to another time and place.  That's the feeling I got when American Hustle started.

We're told, "Some of this actually happened," which felt like a subtle dig at movies that claim to be based on true events, but you can tell are wildly exaggerated or embellished for dramatic purposes.  That's certainly true here, but that craziness is part of the fun.  American Hustle is a fictionalized account of the FBI's Abscam operation during the late 70's.  I don't want to get into the plot as the trailers do a good job of not revealing much, so I'll just give you the broad strokes. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a small-time con man.  He meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), they become lovers and start conning together.  They are caught by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), who wants to use them to reel in some bigger fish and make a name for himself at the Bureau.  Richie has Irv over a barrel, so he doesn't have any choice but to go along.  Their primary mark is local mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) who's trying to raise money to renovate Atlantic City now that gambling's been made legal.

American Hustle is as much about the characters as it is the story we're being told.  Everyone's looking to improve their station in life, and most are working an angle as well.  It would seem that everyone's motivations are fairly selfish in nature, but as the story unfolds, some start having conflicted or mixed feelings about what they are doing.  Relationships become strained and people lose control.  In particular, Irv struggles internally while he develops a friendship with Carmine, as he's a family man that seems to have honest intentions of improving his community.

I've heard many people refer to American Hustle as a comedy.  I wouldn't call it an outright comedy, but more like a crime drama that just happens to be extremely funny.  I love when something makes me laugh consistently when that didn't appear to be the goal.  Much of the humor is from watching how people react to the situation they're in.  Sometimes it's a simple look, other times it's an awkward comment from someone that doesn't realize the gravity of the situation.  A few times it's due to someone completely losing their shit.

The dialog is great as well, with more than a few quotable lines.  David O. Russell and Eric Singer really outdid themselves on the screenplay.  There's some hilarious stuff here and it felt very natural, like being a fly on the wall

I know I'm not the first to say this, but David O. Russell did his best Scorsese impression making American Hustle.  This would fit right in with a marathon of Goodfellas or Casino.  It's basically the same setting and feel, same type of narration, and even some mob involvement.  Hustle seemed to be full of impressions, many probably unintentional.  If you close your eyes when listening to Alessandro Nivola (who played one of Richie's bosses) speak, you may hear a young Christopher Walken.  At one point, the way Bradley Cooper was looking at someone and reacting to them, it reminded me of Sean Penn.

I enjoyed American Hustle the most for its dynamic performances.  Cooper is great and I think he's really found a home in these more demanding dramatic roles.  Jeremy Renner is also very good and plays one of the more sympathetic characters in the film.  Jennifer Lawrence's gives her funniest performance to date, but I was surprised at her character's vulnerability.  She continues to impress me with her maturity playing characters that seem much older than her actual age.  I wouldn't guess she was only 23.  There's another small role played by a very well known comedian, but I won't say who because you don't see him in the trailer.  All I'll say is that I found him extremely funny, but that might be due simply to me being a fan.  There's also a nice cameo that fits perfectly.  Who?  I'm not telling on that one either.

As good as the cast is, they're overshadowed a bit by the leads as there's more focus on the relationship between Irv and Sydney.  The ageless wonder, Amy Adams, is fantastic as a sexy manipulator.  Always playing both sides, she's someone that can get anything she wants.  It also doesn't hurt that she has probably the best wardrobe I've seen in a film this year.  I don't know too many guys that would be able to say no to her in some of those outfits.  However, if there's anything I would critique about her performance it's that her accent didn't seem to be consistent.  Her character crafts a persona that speaks with an English accent, and it sounded like it would transition in and out of her natural voice during conversation.  I think this was due to it being a lighter English accent, but it could have been the speakers in the theater for all I know.  My hearing has taken a beating over the years.  Lastly, Christian Bale delivers yet another great performance, possibly my favorite since American Psycho.  The sacrifices he makes to his body for these movies make me a little concerned for his long term health, but I admire the dedication.  When you see him work that epic comb-over (move over Donald Trump), I expect to read somewhere that was his real hair.

On a side note, I can't tell you how many times writing this review I had to correct writing American Psycho instead of American Hustle.  If Christian Bale comes out with another film with "American" in the title, I'm gonna be screwed.

Much funnier than I could have imagined and carried by great performances and direction, American Hustle reminds me why I love movies so much.  Stylish, with a great soundtrack and extremely lively, it's a film I enjoyed on multiple levels and have no issue with calling one of the best of 2013.

5 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Hangover Part III (2013)

Just like real hangovers, the more you have them, the less fun they become...

After the lazy, disappointment that was The Hangover Part II, I heard many reports from people involved in the production of The Hangover Part III that we'd be getting a much different story this time around, as opposed to yet another rehash of the first (which Part II was).  While Part III is finally a different story than either Part I or Part II, that doesn't mean it delivers on the fun or laughs promised.

The Hangover franchise is a perfect example of trying to squeeze blood (money) from a stone. The first Hangover was a perfectly-contained, raunchy comedy.  There simply wasn't a need for a sequel.  There were no unanswered questions that we needed to revisit in later chapters, and we didn't catch up with these guys to see how their lives turned out.  It's one of the reasons why there's not much of a story in either of the sequels.

Case in point, the main plot of Part III has more to do with Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) than it does with The Wolfpack.  Chow wasn't much more than a side character in the first film.  Hell, the movie doesn't even revolve around the premise of these guys recovering from a hangover and trying to piece together the previous night.  It's more of an attempt to refer back to events of the first film and close the circle.

After the death of his father, Alan's (Zach Galifianakis) friends and family stage an intervention.  He's been off his meds for a while and needs help.  While driving him to a care facility, The Wolfpack is attacked and kidnapped by a mob boss (John Goodman), who wants them to track down Chow.  Chow has stolen a large amount of gold from him, and thinks The Wolfpack are the only ones that can find him.  Why a mob boss would force these doofuses to track Chow down instead of using his own henchmen is beyond me, but whatever.

The Wolfpack spends the rest of the film catching up to Chow.  They don't even end up in Vegas until almost the very end.

The most disappointing aspect of Part III was the lack of humor.  Sure, there are a few chuckles here and there, but otherwise, there just isn't that much to laugh at.  It's more of a action movie, with a few comic elements thrown in.  Many of the biggest laughs in the movie come from longer versions of what you've already seen in the trailer.  So, if you really love that scene where Zach Galifianakis is singing at the funeral, or when he cries at his intervention, you can look forward much longer versions of those.  The giraffe scene played out a little differently than I expected though, and that was probably the biggest laugh of the movie for me.  Unfortunately, that was the opening scene of the film.  I've always said that hallmark of a good comedy is quotability, and this definitely lacks that.  It's actually pretty forgettable.

The rest of the film is Alan saying weird stuff, and Stu (Ed Helms) and Phil (Bradley Cooper) reacting to either him or Chow's antics.  This leads to another big problem I had, which is after three films you can only conclude that Alan really is an awful person.  Granted, he's mentally ill, but there's no reason for these guys to be friends with him.  There's a scene of him involving a kid that I found a little disgusting and not in a raunchy way.  It just illustrated to me what a terrible person Alan is.  Don't get me wrong, awful characters sometimes make for the best comedy, but the schtick has gotten old.

I don't know why director Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote with Part II writer Craig Mazin, didn't bring back the original writers of The Hangover (Jon Lucas and Scott Moore) to give this film the energy it desperately needed.  It's clear they didn't know what to do with these characters, and the script desperately needed some punch up.

Most of original cast returns, along with a few cameos.  Forgotten member of The Wolfpack, Justin Bartha, once again is barely in it.  Poor guy, he never gets to have any of the fun.  Then again, maybe it's better that that nobody will remember his involvement in this series.

There's a short scene after the credits start (which actually was kind of funny and makes you wish the movie would have followed that story more), but nothing else, so there's no need to stay to the end of the credits.

The Wolfpack disappoints again.  The Hangover Part III is yet another uninspired sequel to a film I used to love.  It's not so bad that it made me angry, but it's just not that funny or even entertaining.  It's missing all the energy of Part I or even Part II.  Part III is a movie that I have no desire to ever watch again.  Hopefully, this really is the last of the series. I know you guys probably really want to see this, but save your money and wait for rental.

2 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

It's like Drive 2.0...

It's easy to draw parallels between The Place Beyond the Pines and Drive.  It doesn't help at all that Ryan Gosling plays another stunt driver that doesn't speak much.  It's also similar in that the trailer sets up a much different film that what you really get.  I know many people that were disappointed with Drive thinking it was going to be an action-oriented film, and from the trailer for TPBtP, you might think the same thing.  That's not to say that it's bad, in fact it's good film, just not what you might expect.

This might be a little spoilery, but I'll try not to reveal too much....

Pines is an overarching story, spanning over 15 years, and following the families of Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) and Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).  We begin with Luke, a stunt motorbike rider for a state fair.  He ex Romina (Eva Mendes) visits him and Luke learns he is the father of her newborn son.  Luke decides to stick around to provide for him, but eventually needs a way to make more money.  His current employer reveals he used to rob banks, so the two of them decide to start robbing several banks in the area.  He eventually crosses paths with Cross, a local Schenectady cop, during one of the robberies.  This is pretty much the story you see in the trailer, but this is really just the first act.

The second act follows Cross after stopping Glanton.  This is has made him a hero amongst his fellow officers, but he gets mixed up with some crooked cops, led by Ray Liotta.  Cross wants to expose the corruption, and uses the opportunity to gain a higher position.

We then get to the third act of the film.  The story comes full circle, but it's also the weakest part of the larger story.  Again, I can't really get into it without spoiling things, the events that play out are just way too clean and coincidental.  You can see how it's going to play out from a mile away, and ends the film on a bad note.  It doesn't help that the two characters that are the focus of the third act, played by Emory Cohen and Dane DeHaan, are the weakest and least interesting of the film.  It's not an issue with the performances, as much as it is with the story itself.  I will say, however, that Cohen speaks with a ridiculous Long Island accent, when neither of his parents do, and it just makes his character that much more unbelievable.  Also, another thing I thought was weak about the third act was they didn't do a particularly good job of aging the characters, outside of adding a few patches of grey hair here and there.

It's a shame it ends on such a bad note, because I felt the movie had been going along pretty well until that third act.  It's close to two and a half hours though, and any of these acts could have been movies all on their own.  As much as I liked the second act, it felt like they rushed through the conclusion of it, and it was already a little cliched.  I've often criticised a film for having too many writers, and this one has three: director Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder.  Each act feels like they were written by different people, and then tied loosely together.  The story is a little too ambitious for a single film.  I can't help but think this would have been great as a show or miniseries on HBO, similar to The Wire.

Pines is another one of those movies where characters don't always say much, and you see a lot of meaningful staring into the distance.  This usually means the music needs to stand out, and I thought this had a really haunting score.  I had to look up who did the music only to find out it was done by Mike Patton.  Mike Patton?  Of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More?  I never would have guessed he was involved.

I also enjoyed the aged, gritty look of the film.  I don't think they ever make a point to tell you when this movie occurs, but you get the feeling it's in the recent past.  The themes of the film though could be told in any setting though.

Pines has very good performances across the board, but I didn't think anyone was really stretching out of their comfort zones.  Again, Gosling basically plays a tatted up version of the same character he played in Drive, Ray Liotta plays another crooked cop, and Dane Dehan plays another awkward, angsty teen.  Eva Mendes only pops up here and there, and Rose Byrne is pretty much forgotten about by the third act.  That's also an issue in that there's so much story, not all of the characters are well developed.

The Place Beyond the Pines is an ambitious, well-acted story, but ultimately lets the viewer down with a disappointing third act. It's length makes it something that may be a little too much for casual viewers, even I started to squirm in my seat towards the end, but it's worth a watch...on DVD.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Movie Review

This movie almost made me sympathize with Philadelphia Eagles fans...almost.

Pat (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental hospital under the care of his parents.  His mental meltdown cost him his job and wife, but he's determined to get his life back on track with a new, positive outlook on life.  Even though his wife has moved away and filed a restraining order against him, Pat has a one-track mind, determined to get her back.

Shortly after coming home, Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow who's just as mentally unbalanced as he is.  The two of them form an unlikely friendship based around them needing a favor from each other:  Tiffany needs a partner for a dance competition, and Pat needs someone that can deliver a letter to his wife.  You might think it's a bad idea to get two crazy people like this together, but as the movie went on they seemed to balance each other out.  That's part of the charm of Silver Linings Playbook.

The movie started off a little 'off' for me.  Despite his new mantra of having a positive outlook and looking for the silver lining, you don't have a lot of reason to like Pat.  He comes off as delusional, stubborn and prone to violent outbursts.  They don't reveal what got Pat into trouble or what he's suffering from for about a quarter of the way through it.  Fortunately, this ended up working for the film, as when you do find out what big event got him into trouble, and the environment he was raised in, he immediately became sympathetic.  I obviously won't reveal what happened, but I couldn't help but think I would react in a similar way.  Does that mean I'm also bipolar like Pat, or just the 'AngryVader' you all know and love (or hate)?

You'll find that most of the people in the movie, Pat and Tiffany especially, have no real filter, saying pretty much whatever is on their mind, regardless of it's appropriateness. This leads to a lot of uncomfortable situations and humor throughout the film.  This was another area of the movie that I started on the fence about.  It felt too odd and quirky.  At the same time, I think many of us sometimes wish we could take off that filter, and just say what's really on our mind.  That aspect of the movie won me over around the same time I warmed up to Pat.

I also get the feeling this movie was set a few years ago.  They are huge Philadelphia Eagles fans (a fact that actually plays heavily into the plot), and thought I recalled a reference to DeSean Jackson being a rookie or it's after his rookie year, which would have been somewhere around 2008-2009.  Also, I believe they were on a playoff run, which would have put it around that same time, unless I'm to believe this is really a fantasy film.  Zing!  I don't really have a point with all of this, it was more of an observation.

None of this would have worked if it wasn't for all of the fantastic performances across the board. Bradley Cooper really impressed me here, and I think came away with his finest performance to date.  He really balances out all of his character's craziness with humor, and Pat manages to be both sympathetic and weirdly sweet.  He was a large driving force to getting this movie made (he executive produced), and I'm glad to see him step out of his comfort zone and take a chance on a movie and role he believed in.

As much as I like Jennifer Lawrence, I initially thought she may have been miscast, as she's playing a role older than her actual age, and then pairing her against a much older leading man.  Fortunately, she has great chemistry with Cooper, and her performance has a maturity about it, much like she showed in Winter's Bone.  I also think it was a smart decision to die her hair darker, which I think helped age her a bit.

Robert De Niro was also great as Pat's father.  In fact, this is the most I've enjoyed him in a while. He wasn't doing his typical role, where he plays a variation of a gangster or is just phoning it in (like in the Fockers movies), and his character had a lot of depth.  As you learn about him, you understand why Pat is the way he is.  His role isn't just thrown in either, as he has a large part in how the plot plays out.

The whole supporting cast is great.  Jacki Weaver is wonderful as Pat's month, and Shea Whigham also has a small role as his brother.  John Ortiz has some funny moments as Pat's best friend, and they even got Julia Stiles to play his wife.  But the biggest surprise of all, was how they managed to bring Chris Tucker out of hiding.  He hasn't been in a movie since Rush Hour 3, but he was a welcome sight.  His character has a running gag about breaking out of the mental hospital, and always seems to show up at the most random times.  He's very good in the role and used just enough that his gag didn't get old.

It's interesting how many of the characters are a little tough to take at first, but as the movie goes on you end up liking them.  I'm not sure if that was one of the points writer/director David O. Russell was trying to make, or just show a realistic take on mental illness.  It's not using the mental illness as a gag, and I liked how he challenged the audience with their perceptions.  He continues to be one my favorite directors that I wish made more movies.  This was adapted from the book of the same name by Matthew Quick.  It's a very eclectic story that has so many elements that normally it would be a mess, but Russell made something great out of it.

Silver Linings Playbook is a movie that surprised me.  I had heard a lot of good things, but didn't think it was going to live up to the hype.  Fortunately, it did and is one of the better movies of the year.  It's a definitely a sleeper that's going to generate a lot of Oscar buzz, but is totally deserving of all the praise.  It's sweet, funny, fantastically acted, and ends up becoming a surprisingly effective romantic comedy that isn't really a romantic comedy.

4.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Words (2012) - Movie Review

We begin with the reading of a book, The Words, by successful author Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid).  The book is the story of another author, Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper), who lives in New York with his girlfriend, Dora (Zoe Saldana).  Rory is an author struggling to get published, and is forced to get a day job when his father (J.K. Simmons) says he can't support him anymore and hints that maybe it's time to move on.

While on their honeymoon, the couple finds an old leather bag that contains an old manuscript. Rory reads it and realizes that it's better than anything he's ever written.  He types it, word for word, into his computer just for the experience of having the book go through his hands.  Dora finds the re-typed manuscript and is moved by it.  She encourages him to get it published, and Rory can't bring himself to tell her that he didn't write it.

The book is a hit and things are looking up for Rory, but things get complicated when the book's original author, simply billed as "The Old Man" (Jeremy Irons), tracks Rory down and tells him his story.  We are transported to World War II France and get a mini period piece detailing how The Old Man wrote and then lost his book.  I felt this was the strength of the movie, simply for Jeremy Irons performance.  He just provided narration, but he's so good in that 'I could listen to him read the phone book' way.  It's worth watching The Words just for Jeremy Irons.

Most of the performances in The Words are strong.  I thought Bradley Cooper was great.  To think a few years ago I thought he was going to be a flash in the pan.  Cooper shows emotional depth that I don't think we've seen out of him up until now.  Zoe Saldana was good as well, but she wasn't given much to do and the story wasn't about her.  I also really enjoyed Ben Barnes and Nora Arnezender as the young couple from The Old Man's story.  He doesn't get enough screen time, but it's always great to see J.K. Simmons in anything.

You'd think that things would get really interesting once the two authors meet, but the problem is that The Old Man doesn't want anything from Rory.  As a result, the movie fizzles out and you never really get to see how this affects Rory.  There are some consequences, but Rory is never publicly outed and they don't spend very much time at all showing Rory deal with the guilt of what's he's done.

What should have been the emotional climax of the film ended up switching back to catch up with Clay, who's flirting with an apparent literary groupie played by Olivia Wilde.  She's very interested in the story, so you think there might be something deeper to her character, but there isn't.  I like Olivia Wilde, but once again she plays a role that felt thrown in just to have another pretty face in the movie.  I'm sure the script appealed to her, as her surname was taken from author Oscar Wilde.  There was some very odd and awkward interaction between Quaid and Wilde as he uncomfortably tried to flirt with her.  Have you ever had a friend that didn't quite know how to talk to women and tries way too hard, so it comes off as a little creepy?  It was like that.

With all this story within a story within a story, I felt like I was watching a literary version of Inception.  It's never truly clear if Clay is actually Rory or just telling a story.  They leave that up to you to decide, but it kind of felt like the movie was trying really hard to be clever.  The movie ends very abruptly and you're left wondering what the point was.  I'd like to ask co-writers and directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal what they were really trying to say here.

I'd love to write more about this movie, but I can't find...The Words.  Ha ha ha!  Do you see what I did with that totally hilarious joke that I in no way had any assistance with?

The Words is a very well acted and good looking film, but the story is overly complex and ultimately something that won't stick with you.  I do think it's worth watching for the performances, especially Jeremy Irons, but this is better suited for a rental.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Hit & Run (2012) - Movie Review

It's been a while since I've seen a good, old-school, car chase movie. I wasn't quite sure what to expect before I saw Hit & Run, but a good, old-school, car chase movie is exactly what I got.  I guess with a title like Hit & Run, I shouldn't have been surprised.

Annie (Kristen Bell) and Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard, and yes, named after that Charles Bronson) have a fairly simple life living in the middle of nowhere. Annie is a professor at a local college and is offered a huge opportunity in Los Angeles.  The problem is that Charlie is living in witness protection and can't exactly leave, and worse yet, LA is the scene of the crime.  However, time is of the essence and love trumps the risk, so he decides to drive her down there.

Unfortunately, a jealous ex-boyfriend (Michael Rosenbaum) figures out who Charlie really is and lets the criminals he ratted on (led by Bradley Cooper) know where he is.  The chase is on now between Charlie and his ex-gang, the ex-boyfriend that doesn't want Annie to leave, and the bumbling U.S. Marshall (Tom Arnold) assigned to protect Charlie. Annie isn't clear on all the details of why Charlie is in witness protection, but it doesn't take long to figure out what his particular skill set is.

Sometimes simplicity is a good thing, and that works for Hit & Run.  It's not bogged down with too many characters, cumbersome dialog or needless plot points.  Once the chase starts, there's very little rest until the movie is over.  However, you still get enough personality from the characters to care about what's going on.

If you're a car lover, you get to see a variety tearing it up.  I'm sure Adam Carolla or Jay Leno would appreciate this.  I'm not a huge car guy, so don't ask me what the makes and models were, but seeing some of these cars race around made me we want get a old muscle car and take it for a spin.  The car chases are fun and fast paced.  In fact, the whole movie just raced by.  I was shocked when I checked my watch and realized I was well past the halfway point in the movie. The chases are shot well too, as you're never confused about the action or what is going on.  I heard an interview with Shepard a few weeks back where he talked about how they made this with a very low budget.  If that's the case, then you can't tell by what's on the screen.  This looks better than a lot of big budget action films I've seen this summer.

One thing I liked about Hit & Run is how natural the dialog felt.  The dialog between Annie and Charlie is very cute and flirty, and the chemistry between the two is obvious.  I guess it should be though, since Shepard and Bell have been a couple for about five years.  They really are adorable together.  When you first meet Bradley Cooper's character, you think he's going to be a certain way, but then ends up being pretty level headed for someone that wants to get back at Charlie. People don't talk over each other or shout.  It felt very rational despite all the craziness of what was going on.  There's some raunchy stuff in here and much of the humor skews that direction, but there's plenty of funny moments throughout.  Much of the comedy relief is provided by Tom Arnold, and this is the best I've seen him since True Lies.

It's odd that I watched True Romance (R.I.P., Tony Scott) over the weekend as that's the movie Hit & Run reminded me the most of.  Not because of the car chases, but more just the general vibe. At times the original score sounded like something pulled right out of True Romance.

I've always liked Dax Shepard.  He has a casual charm about him and can be hilarious.  He's an avid car buff, so in addition to doing his own stunt driving, he also wrote and co-directed Hit & Run, (with David Palmer).  I'm impressed with his work here and hope he continues making films.  To keep the budget low, Shepard called in some favors based on some the cameos, but that's not a knock on the cast as it's a fun group.  Bradley Cooper was great as the bad guy.  He's played some asshole characters in the past, but this is a different look for him.  Kristen Bell really came out of this looking great, too.   I've always enjoyed Michael Rosenbaum, and have never figured out why he hasn't taken off since Smallville, but I always think he's funny doing comedy.  The always adorable Kristin Chenoweth has a small, but funny role, as well.

Hit & Run is a simple, charming and funny movie.  It has some high octane car chases that should please the car lovers out there and the pace of the movie never lets up.  If you were someone that was annoyed by the fact that last year's Drive didn't have enough actual driving in it, then you should enjoy this.  I really recommend checking it out.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars