Clearly This Is Not Your Father's "CHiPS"

CHiPS (2017)

Rated R

Starring Dax Shepard, Michael Pena, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kristen Bell,

Written and Directed by Dax Shepard

The Story:

Jon Baker (Shepard) is a former motocross legend who's trying to get a real job to impress his ex (Bell) so she might take him back. Ponch (Pena) is an undercover Federal agent investigating the possibility that there are some dirty cops on the job at the California Highway Patrol. Let the crashes commence!

I grew up watching CHiPs. Loved that show. Jon and Ponch were a great team, and the crashes were always fantastic.

This is not that show.

This is:  what if Dax Shepard wrote, directed and starred in a movie about the California Highway Patrol?

So depending on what you expect, that might very well determine whether you enjoy this one or roll your eyes in frustration at it.

If you saw his 2012 film Hit and Run, you know what to expect.

I did. I liked it. It was a crazy film, and Shepard showed a lot of skill as the man of many hats, writing/directing/producing and starring.

He's back for more, and this one is just as fun, possibly even moreso.

A lot of the credit for that goes to Shepard himself, but also to Pena who plays his partner, who has no interest in being partners, yet the two manage to bond almost in spite of themselves.

Pena is gold in just about any role he touches anymore, so whenever he's in a film, it's already better just for his involvement.

Don't believe me?

Tell me Ant-Man would be as good without his character.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Sure, it's stupid, crude... but when it's funny, it's spot on.

And the crashes, well they do the memory of their namesake proud.

I saw this one awhile ago, and whenever I see the logo on Amazon or Vudu, I still smile thinking about the movie.

For me, that says a lot about how fun it really was.

Final Grade: C+/B-

Witness Protection due to a "Hit and Run"

If you're going to outrun your past...drive a fast car!


The Story:

Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard) and his girlfriend Annie (Kristen Bell) live in a small town and are relatively happy.  Then Annie is told about a killer job that's available and one that she is ideally suited for.  The only complication?  It's in Los Angeles, and her boyfriend is in Witness Protection because of something that happened in L.A. that he is hiding out from.  He insists on taking her to L.A., after all, it's been 4 years, what could possibly happen?

Okay, first off, it's a budget movie, in the very sense of the word.  Apparently a 2 million dollar budget, and half of that was to make sure they had music.  So I'm guessing the actors themselves either did it as a favor to Dax, or took about a 5 dollar paycheck.

But you know what?

It's still a pretty fun little movie.

As Charlie and Annie leave town, they are followed by the Federal Marshall (Tom Arnold) who doesn't want them to leave, Annie's ex who thinks Charlie is going to kill Annie.  Naturally, he Facebooks the bad guy (Bradley Cooper) and all parties zero in on Charlie to make his life miserable.

Nothing life changing.

Nothing earth shattering.

Just a fun little movie that zips along at a pretty good pace, and then it's over.

Fair enough.



The action scenes are well done, the humor is there, the dialogue works throughout.  Apparently Dax Shepard wanted to give it a try as writer/director/producer and star.


The kid's got potential!


Final Grade: B-

Would I Buy it For the Vault: Tempting.  I could certainly watch it again, and that says a lot for many movies these days.