Good start, but then it gets ruined

Excellent but underrated film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The first 30 minutes or so of this black comedy sucks, big time, before rather weirdly picking up with the appearance of an uncredited Chris Pine as the mad, bad and very dangerous to know billionaire limo driver Patrick Wilson is tasked with driving around LA. Of course, there is more to it than that; this is a crime caper and in poor taste and while there are no belly-laughs there is a good deal of sick humour as well as a surprisingly good performance from an unlikely cast Wilson. (It's hardly going to win him an Oscar but it's nice to see him out of his comfort zone). There's also a neat cameo from Ray Liotta who plays himself as the smug, arrogant actor I'm sure he's not.

A fine director who burst onto the scene with the terrific yet underseen Tom Cruise backed Narc, then went onto direct the so-so big budgeted A-Team redo and one of the most underrated thrillers of the modern era in the form of the pulse pounding The Grey, director Joe Carnahan has had an eclectic career behind the camera, no more personified by Stretch, a film virtually dumped by its studio and left to live a life of relative obscurity in the libraries of forgotten movies.Aiming to find the success and balance of humour, violence and darkness that pulses through the veins of films like Snatch, Crank and the oddball exercises of the Coen Brothers, Stretch sees Carnahan try his hand at satirical insights into the world of Hollywood and the dark underbelly it entails but under the guise of Patrick Wilson's hard luck wannabe actor turned gambling debt riddled limousine driver Stretch, Carnahan finds himself on shaky ground and while the director has found success with action orientated thrillers in the past, his skill set is not used to great effect here.Stretch often feels forced and uneasy, Wilson in particular seems unsuited to the role that continues his long line of disappointing acting choices when films like Watchmen and Little Children show off his potential while supporting actors such as Jessica Alba, Ed Helms and the horribly over the top Chris Pine can't score a touchdown for a film that was searching for its greatest win from its cast. Wilson's Stretch isn't also a creation that seems overly enjoyable and while films of this ilk often harbor a fairly dire central figure, Stretch isn't funny enough or stupid enough for us to really care whilst the narrative's "what a crazy night" type scenario never takes off even though it throws jockstraps, big bodied Russian's and celebrity cameos (another winning Norman Reedus moment a highlight) our way in abundance.Stretch is without a doubt a wild ride and a unique one in many respects but Carnahan's misdirection and the films unbalanced tonal shifts certainly don't help its causes and at the end of the nights adventures it's not hard to see why the studio dropped this film like its hot, as it's not exactly clear at who Stretch was aimed for or what it was trying to achieve.2 angry Hasselhoff's out of 5

"Stretch" is one of those movies that needed (and deserved) more press. It's a fun and wickedly entertaining story that is crafted together extremely well by director Joe Carnahan. The editing, lighting, and camera work all look fantastic and the film has a very funny story and the performances from everyone in it—all the cameo roles, Chris Pine and especially Patrick Wilson—are incredible and really make a great film even better. There are some moments where the story drags and loses some of its slick momentum but these moments are never long and never completely obliterate the entertainment value of it. Overall, just a really killer and fun movie.

As anyone who has seen Movie 43 will tell you , it doesn't matter how many big names you put in a film it doesn't make it any good . This is a mess of a film about a debt ridden gambler ( yes another one!)who drives a Limo and get's involved in all sorts of crazy ( not ) shenanigans with the police and the mob. Rammed packed full of well known actors , leading man Patrick Wilson is the only one worth watching here. Chris Pine and ed Helms are bloody annoying and Jessica Alba is only there for her silly smile. Although Stretch is by no means as bad as Movie 43 it is a stinker and deserves to be confined to the bargain DVD bucket.