Anyone who's ever toiled in obscurity with others in a creative endeavor, with million-to-one odds that success will follow, should appreciate the breezy buddy flick "Hit and Runway."
This small-budget charmer nicely captures the sense of long shot optimism, the bickering, the rifts and the crawling back for more that go with those who have nothing but a wing and a prayer and a lot of thankless hours to devote to an idea.
Written by longtime writing partners Christopher Livingston and Jaffe Cohen, "Hit and Runway" is a promising directorial debut for Livingston. Their premise: What if two men with absolutely, positively nothing in common try to write a script for a Hollywood action adventure?
Alex Andero (Michael Parducci) is a street-smart slacker who pursues his dream of film writing to get out of the dead-end life that's shaping up at his family's New York City cafe.
He's got a title and a plot "Hit and Runway," about a fashion model who's really a cop and a foot in the door with Hollywood's biggest action star (Hoyt Richards), who thinks Alex has hit on the best idea for an action comedy since "Kindergarten Cop."
Trouble is, Alex has big visions and boundless hope but little writing talent.
So he pursues the nerdy, cynical, Jewish and gay playwright Elliot Springer (Peter Jacobson) to help. Alex will provide the story line, Elliot will provide everything else.
Elliot initially wants nothing to do with something so base as a Hollywood picture. But smitten with Joey (Kerr Smith), a waiter at the Andero family cafe, Elliot reluctantly signs on so long as Alex fixes him up with his dreamboat.
What follows is a captivating, sharp-tongued, very funny romp as both writing partners are beset by romantic and artistic trials.
The macho Alex is uncharacteristically drawn to a bespectacled wallflower (Judy Prescott). Elliot gets his chance with Joey, who finds all things Jewish a turn-on.
What "Hit and Runway" really nails is one of the wistful truths of the creative, collaborative process: That whether or not success comes later, the hopeless hope and fiery friendship of being unknowns together may well be the best time you could ever have.
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