Chips is a clumsy caper not worth its runtime, says Rashid Irani

This unwarranted reboot of a 1970s TV show offers lame quips and (far too many) bike stunts in place of plot.

CHIPS

Dax Shepard, who wrote and directed the big-screen adaptation, also plays the lead role of a rookie police officer who needs to put both his life and his marriage back on track.

Direction: Dax Shepard

Actors: Dax Shepard, Michael Pena

Rating: 0.5 / 5

First, a little background: Chips is an unwarranted reboot of a 1970s television show.

Dax Shepard, who wrote and directed the big-screen adaptation, also plays the lead role of a rookie police officer who needs to put both his life and his marriage back on track.

He is partnered with a straitlaced federal agent working undercover as a highway patrolman (Michael Pena).

Together, the bickering crime-fighters stir up a storm on the streets of Los Angeles. Their mission: to bring the perpetrators of multi-million-dollar heists to justice. To add a modicum of excitement, it seems that the robberies could have been an inside job.

Dax’s character is partnered with a straitlaced federal agent working undercover as a highway patrolman (Michael Pena). All seen and sniggered at, this cheesy cops-versus-criminal caper doesn’t even qualify as a decent diversion.

Lame quips and (far too many) motorbike stunts are all you have to break the tedium.

The actors, including veteran baddie Vincent D’Onofrio, are inept; the director’ real-life wife Kristen Bell is an even bigger disappointment, in the brief role of his on-screen spouse.

All seen and sniggered at, this cheesy cops-versus-criminal caper doesn’t even qualify as a decent diversion.

Watch the trailer for Chips here