Hit and Run
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In one of those eerie coincidences that only the world of the movies can provide, Dax Shepard, who wrote and co-directed Hit and Run, seems to have been particularly inspired by the late Tony Scott’s True Romance — and his film is being released the weekend after Scott tragically ended his life.
Shepard and David Palmer’s film actually stars Shepard (playing the wonderfully named Charlie Bronson), who, along with the slightly more recognizable Kristen Bell, embarks upon a road trip that might just result in the opportunity of a lifetime. Naturally, events aren’t going to pan out entirely smoothly for the couple, who must confront a bunch of misfits, a federal marshal (Tom Arnold) and Bradley Cooper playing a pal from the past. Hilarity will surely ensue.
Or will it? Because when you read that, in the words of Hollywood & Fine, “It’s like a car doing doughnuts, driving in circles while going nowhere fast,” you begin to fear for the worst. Variety redresses the balance, noting that “real-life couple Shepard and Bell bring genuine chemistry to this high-energy excursion. Charlie may be the one behind the wheel, but Annie’s refreshingly intelligent and assertive personality elevates her beyond mere love interest, offsetting the script’s sophomoric tendencies with her erudite badinage.” And by the time you’re through with the Hollywood Reporter‘s rave – “Its high-octane but low-stakes action might be just the thing for moviegoers weary of summer’s operatic superheroes” – it’s possible that fans of Tony Scott might not have a better weekend to pay their cinematic respects by checking out a movie he might have been keen to see — or indeed to have made himself.
MORE: Tony Scott: Hollywood Top Gun, Yes. Unstoppable, Alas, No.
Premium Rush
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If Hit and Run is a film Tony Scott might have seen, Premium Rush actually sounds like a title Scott would have come up with.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Wilee, the finest bicycle messenger New York City’s mean streets have ever seen. Sure, his is an industry in which you risk your life, and not for much reward — but Wilee will need to be on top of his game when his last delivery of the day turns out to be the most dangerous package of his life.
It might not exactly sound like high art but that doesn’t mean it won’t be watchable. “You’re looking for depth and profundity, this is the wrong movie,” concludes Roger Ebert. “I’m very weary of routine chase movies. There’s nothing routine about Premium Rush. Any action formula can be brought to life with enough imagination and energy.” The AV Club starts off by calling David Koepp’s movie (Koepp directed Secret Window, as well as being responsible for the screenplays for Mission: Impossible and Spider-Man) “hugely entertaining,” before ending the review with the observation that, “No matter how perilous things get, he never stops having fun—and neither does the movie.” And TIME’s Richard Corliss doesn’t disagree with his peers: “So appealing is Gordon-Levitt that, for great stretches of his new movie, I suspended my disapproval of his character and just went with the nonstop flow. He almost persuaded me that the film is, if not a premium rush, then an economy high.”
MORE: Profiling Joseph Gordon-Levitt: The Crowd-Sourced Version
NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: If Hit and Run is half the film that True Romance was, we’ll all be satisfied. But Premium Rush looks like the connoisseur’s choice.