Chattanooga Film Festival 2025 Coverage
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick review
A buddy road trip crime comedy caper that works on all those levels at once.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick
Directed by Trevor Stevens
Written by Heston Horwin
Starring Chase Cargill and Heston Horwin
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick Review
Normally non-horror movies we cover from film festivals get dumped into a wrap-up article at the end of our regular coverage. Just a couple of paragraphs summarizing the plot and commenting on the positives and negatives in quick fashion. That isn’t a hard rule, of course. We’ve slipped in plenty of proper coverage for non-horror films. Usually, those movies have a sci-fi angle of some kind. Genres are genres, right? And, sometimes, movies are just too fun to shortchange. A Samurai in Time, Britney Lost Her Phone and They Call Her Death…for three examples. The Misadventures of Vince and Hick falls into that category.
The fact that those three examples are period pieces should be ignored completely. The Misadventures of Vince and Hick take place in the modern day. It’s about two former classmates who are reunited by chance to steal a car and deliver it to a mob boss. The word misadventures does a lot of heavy lifting in that title. Vince (Heston Horwin) and Hick (Chase Cargill) are utterly incapable of catching a break. Every stop results in another problem…usually with another person (or persons) on their tail.
Hick, recently released from prison, is trying to get to his daughter’s birthday party. Vince, knowing Hick is a prodigious car thief, convinces him to help deliver the mobsters vehicle. It involves stealing the car from Vince’s own cousin…giving the duo their first, or many, pursuers. Attempting to hustle some quick money at pool quickly gives them two more. They have 48 hours to get to Albuquerque…a job that becomes more difficult when their stolen car is…stolen.
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick contains plenty of colorful characters attempting to prevent Vince and Hick from accomplishing their mission. Some are deadlier than others…but all are dangerous. Their journey takes them from bars to supposed safe houses. From crappy motels to an automobile auction. From a meeting with the mob to Hick’s daughter’s birthday. Danger is never more than one step behind…and it’s carrying a consistent level of entertainment with it.
Vince and Hick start their journey as unlikely partners. Vince seems willing to turn on Hick as soon as the opportunity to benefit himself arrives. The two actors (who also serve as producers) have tremendous chemistry together. Watching their inevitable bond form is the true highlight of The Misadventures of Vince and Hick. Which says a lot when the rest of the movie is as entertaining as The Misadventures of Vince and Hick is. It’s all a little Pee-wee’s Big Adventure meets Raising Arizona meets Adam West’s Batman meets…I don’t know…a movie where two characters become unlikely friends. Step Brothers? Either way, The Misadventures of Vince and Hick is more grounded than any of those movies…but the spirit it carries definitely leans into absurd mischief when it wants to.
The result is, in my opinion, the most entertaining movie from this year’s Chattanooga Film Festival’s virtual offerings. A clear labor of love for those involved that hits on basically everything that it wants to do. It’s funny, strangely charming, oddly moving and consistently entertaining. A car heist leads to a series of events (misadventures) that culminate in a multi-faction showdown at a child’s birthday party. It’s the kind of earned climax that most stories dream of. The Misadventures of Vince and Hick wears its heart on its sleeve…and surrounds it with comedic dangers at every turn.
But it’s the relationship between the titular misadventure havers that keeps this car firmly on the right track. It develops so naturally, so believably, that you can’t help but get roped in by it. These characters have crap backgrounds and modest desires that they seem completely incapable of attaining on their own. Together…they just might have a shot. If they can survive an angry mob boss, deadly cousin, the authorities, the couple who hustled them and a man they had a random altercation with along the way.
Scare Value
The Misadventures of Vince and Hick is a fun time with two old not quite friends. A simple job repeatedly goes sideways in entertaining (and dangerous) fashion. What makes The Misadventures of Vince and Hick work so well is how it handles the increased lunacy with a growing sensitive touch. The central relationship clicks on all cylinders. It’s everything you want in a road trip buddy comedy crime thriller. And all those pieces contained within that description.
