To be fair to this film it actually does open with some promise; it draws us into the protagonists world and does start to help us to be able to identify with him somewhat. However, once the first few minutes are out of the way it just becomes crazier and crazier and more and more surreal.After establishing Stretch (Patrick Wilson) as a down on his luck pathetic figure the film then flits and bangs around all over the place - complete with lame cameos from David Hasselhoff and Ray Liotta. Their cameos may have actually improved the picture if they'd have been funny and/or if they'd have at least had a trace of self-awareness about them. Aside from the dumb cameos, the first half of the film lacks any real focus and takes an awful long time setting up the plot (which in itself was mind-boggling given how slim the material is with this film).I also couldn't shake this feeling that the picture was also trying way too hard at times to be funny; Chris Pine's performance is very good here and he is funny (for about 5 minutes), but his over-the-top antics actually start to become annoying very quickly. Ed Helms (who was excellent in the Hangover franchise) is given the thankless role as being some kind of dead adviser/conscience character for Stretch - again although I can't fault Helms performance his character annoyed the hell out of me and I never felt that he was necessary to the story.Even when the film does get going it's rather generic plotting was never strong enough to hold my interest. With regards to plotting then one could also address the vague and silly sub plot regarding Stretch and the PinkMinx - this felt like a dumb thing to tag on to the story and although the mystery (I'll use this term lightly) to this sub plot is revealed I never really cared for it to be honest because I never felt that I was given a reason to.Although the film clearly tries to be funny I just found it a little too wacked out, ridiculous and rather stupid, but sadly all of this came at the expense of anything remotely funny or interesting. All in all, it's a roundly poor effort.

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

Though I guess if you cast Miss Alba as the "Ugly Duckling"/Secretary, you obviously have some pull in the hiring of actors department. There are some nice additions to that (Ray Liotta as "himself") and some others (Chris Pine going completely over the top, though he's playing someone different than himself).The action is really good and the dialog is finely tuned. Obviously there are a lot of coincidences happening and a lot of stuff all at once. There are "twists" that you can see coming from the start, but it's still a fun ride, if you forgive the pun. Maybe Joe is channeling something from his own Hollywood experience or something from someone close to him. One thing is for sure: You can feel for the main character and what he's going through ... so much that you want him to succeed even in the strangest odds and with the weirdest decisions (he's making) .... will he prevail?

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.