'CHIPS' movie falls flat with critics

Dax Shepard in a scene from "CHIPS." (Peter Iovino/Warner Bros via AP)

The big screen film loosely based on the beloved 1970s series “CHiPs” is falling flat with movie critics.

"CHIPS," written, directed and produced by Dax Shepard, hit theaters today and many of the critics have slammed the picture with far-from-stellar reviews.

“CHIPS” has a rating of 28 percent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The Associated Press’ movie critic called the film “a tawdry, sexist disappointment.”

“…Overall, the film is an uncomfortable eye-roll. Shepard and co-star Michael Pena have plenty of charm, but not enough to support the feeble story and tasteless jokes,” critic Sandy Cohen wrote in the AP’s review.

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Meanwhile, the New York Times labeled the film “borderline incoherent and unrepentantly lewd.”

The Times reviewer wrote of the rated-R flick, “The language might be mature, but don’t be misled: There’s nothing here that rises above the level of the playground.”

Several reviews, such as the Los Angeles Times, also slammed film’s use of “gay-panic” humor. Apparently, several jokes surround Michael Peña’s Ponch character’s discomfort with getting a bit too close to Jon Baker, played by Shepard.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck wrote, “A puerile combination of raunchy sex comedy and bland action vehicle, ‘CHIPS’ will likely manage the difficult feat of simultaneously alienating fans of the original series and newcomers who will wonder why a buddy-cop comedy displays so much homosexual panic.”

A few reviews of “CHIPS” were more favorable. The Salt Lake City Tribune wrote that the key to enjoying the film was not having high expectations.

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“Shepard and Peña are both so likable and have such great chemistry that, if you go in not expecting much, you just might be pleasantly surprised.”

Late Thursday, Shepard made a personal plea to fans of the TV show “Parenthood” (which Shepard starred in) to see the flick.

And on Friday morning, his wife Kristen Bell, who appears in the film, was on "Good Morning America" to promote "CHIPS."

Will fans of Shepard and Bell heed their advice to go see the film? We'll see when the final box office tallies are in.