Dax Shepard is a bit of a wildcard in Hollywood. Most folks know him as the fast-talking Crosby Braverman from Parenthood or the guy who grills celebrities about their childhood traumas on the Armchair Expert podcast. But there’s this whole other side to his career that usually gets glossed over in the trades. He’s a gearhead with a directing bug.
He doesn't just act. He builds.
When you look at Dax Shepard directed movies, you aren't looking at a polished, studio-sanitized filmography. It’s messy. It’s loud. It usually involves a lot of burning rubber and jokes that make half the audience cringe while the other half howls. Honestly, his directorial work feels less like a calculated career move and more like a guy convincing his rich friends to go play in the desert with some cameras and a fleet of fast cars.
The Mockumentary Nobody Remembers: Brother’s Justice
Back in 2010, before the podcasting empire and the blockbuster budgets, Shepard co-directed a weird little flick called Brother's Justice. He did it with David Palmer, who ended up being his frequent creative partner. This thing is a satirical mockumentary. Basically, the premise is Dax playing a version of himself who decides he’s done with comedy and wants to become a world-class martial arts star.
It’s meta. Super meta.
He brings in his real-life buddies like Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold to play along with the bit. It won an Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival, which is actually kind of impressive for a movie that looks like it was shot on a dare. Critics weren't exactly kind, though. Slant Magazine called it "staggering incompetence," but that kind of misses the point. It was an exercise in ego-skewering. He was making fun of the very Hollywood machine he was trying to climb.
Hit and Run: The Love Letter to Kristen Bell and Muscle Cars
If you want to see the "purest" version of Shepard’s vision, you have to watch Hit and Run (2012). This is where the Dax Shepard directed movies search usually leads people, and for good reason. He wrote it, co-directed it, edited it, and starred in it.
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He also cast his then-fiancée, Kristen Bell.
The plot is thin—a guy in witness protection leaves his safe haven to drive his girlfriend to a job interview in L.A.—but the plot isn't the draw. The draw is the chemistry between Shepard and Bell and the actual, real-deal car stunts. Dax used his own 1967 Lincoln Continental for the film. He’s a massive car nerd, and it shows in every frame.
The movie only cost about $2 million to make. That’s couch change in Hollywood. It ended up pulling in around $16 million. That is a massive win for an indie project. It’s also one of the few times Bradley Cooper has played a dreadlocked villain with a penchant for organic snacks. It’s weird, it’s fast, and it feels authentic to who Dax is. He isn't trying to be Scorsese; he’s trying to be a guy who makes you laugh while a 700-horsepower engine screams in the background.
The Big Budget Gamble: CHiPs
Then came 2017. Warner Bros. gave him the keys to a legacy franchise: CHiPs. This was the big one. The jump from $2 million indies to a $25 million studio production.
It didn't go great.
Shepard took the 70s TV show and tried to turn it into something akin to 21 Jump Street—a R-rated, raunchy, action-heavy reboot. He played Jon Baker, Michael Peña played Ponch. On paper, it works. In reality? The critics absolutely mauled it. It currently sits at a pretty brutal 20% on Rotten Tomatoes.
People felt it was too "lowbrow." There were a lot of jokes about masculinity and homophobia that felt dated even back in 2017. Larry Wilcox, the original star of the show, even went on Twitter to say the movie "ruined the brand." Ouch.
But if you talk to gearheads, they’ll tell you the motorcycle stunts in CHiPs are actually top-tier. Dax did a lot of his own riding. He focused on the mechanics of the chase in a way most directors don't bother with. He wanted it to feel like Bad Boys on bikes. Even if the script didn't land for everyone, the technical execution of the action showed he knew his way around a set.
Why These Movies Matter (Even the Flops)
It’s easy to dismiss someone’s directing career when it only consists of three features, especially when one of them is a "box office bomb." But Shepard represents a specific type of DIY filmmaker that is dying out. He builds these projects from the ground up. He’s not a director-for-hire; he’s the guy writing the checks (or at least convincing others to).
His movies are deeply personal, even the ones about California Highway Patrol officers. They reflect his obsession with:
- Cars and Motorcycles: If it has an engine, Dax wants to film it.
- Male Vulnerability: Behind the fart jokes, his characters are usually neurotic messes trying to figure out how to be "men."
- Loyalty: He consistently hires the same people. Nate Tuck, David Palmer, Michael Rosenbaum.
What You Should Watch Next
If you’ve only seen him on Parenthood, the jump to his directed films might be jarring. Start with Hit and Run. It’s the most balanced. It has the heart that made people fall in love with his podcast, but it also has the "wild man" energy he’s been cultivating since his Punk’d days.
Don't expect a polished masterpiece. That’s not what he does. He makes movies for people who like the smell of gasoline and don't mind a joke that goes a little too far.
To really understand his evolution, you should actually look at his work on the small screen too. He directed episodes of Parenthood and About a Boy, where he had to rein in the "Dax-isms" and focus on character beats. It’s a different side of the same coin.
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Actionable Next Steps
- Watch Hit and Run first. It is the best entry point to his style and actually has a decent "Certified Fresh" vibe if you ignore the harsher critics.
- Listen to the "Armchair Expert" episode with Michael Peña. They talk extensively about the making of CHiPs and why it didn't hit the way they hoped. It’s a fascinating look at the "failure" of a big-budget movie from the inside.
- Check out Brother's Justice on a streaming rental. It’s only 80 minutes long. If you like meta-comedy like Curb Your Enthusiasm, you might actually find it brilliant.
Dax Shepard isn't trying to win an Oscar. He’s trying to have a good time and bring his friends along for the ride. In a world of "content" that feels like it was made by a committee, there’s something kind of refreshing about a movie that feels like it was made by one guy with a very specific, very loud vision.