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The Fast and The Furious film review
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
Running time: 106 mins
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, Matt Schulze
The best compliment to The Fast And The Furious came from the Los Angeles Police Department who were so concerned that the film about the illegal world of streetracing might prompt people to rush out and emulate the high speed antics of the film's heroes that they posted extra patrols on the weekend of its release.
Aptly titled, The Fast And The Furious is pedal to the metal action from beginning to end, driven relentlessly along by a hard, pulsating soundtrack, with the result that you have little time to dwell on the corny dialogue and wafer thin plot. Lines like "I live my life a quarter mile at a time, for those 10 seconds or less I'm free" are uttered with conviction rather than the contempt they rightfully deserve.
Director Rob Cohen has taken the somewhat seedy world of street racing and given it the full Hollywood treatment, making the cars powerful and glamorous and the participants even more so. How much The Fast And The Furious resembles the reality is debatable, but considering the glossy outcome I doubt you would get any of those involved to debate the point.
At the centre of the story is undercover cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), who's be sent to infiltrate the street racing scene in order to find out who's been hijacking trucks using souped up Honda Civics. His search quickly leads him to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), the imposing muscle-bound, shaven-headed, gravel-voiced champion street racer. The two become friends following their first tarmac showdown when the police turn up and O'Conner spirits Dom away. O'Conner's involvement in the scene becomes complicated when he falls for Dom's younger sister Mia (Jordan Brewster), much to the chagrin of her one-time suitor and Dom's long time friend Vince (Matt Schulze).
The rivalry between the various ethnic factions that comprise the LA street racing scene is depicted both in and out of cars, with Toretto's long standing feud with the Asian leader Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) often erupting in running gun battles. But what plot there is only acts as a way of getting from one elaborately staged car sequence to the next. And while the chases rarely equal the brilliance of say aBullitt or The Italian Job, what they lack in quality, they more than make up for in quantity, so that there's never a chance of car fans coming away feeling deprived. Indeed the success of The Fast And The Furious lies in the fact that it sets itself limited goals, keeping things simple, like a cross between an MTV rap video and a car commercial, and rarely allows itself to idle.
The other reason the film is more convincing than it might have been considering its testosterone-fuelled dialogue, is the performance of Vin Diesel, who adds a weight and compassion to his character that isn't on the page. Anyone who can utter the line "It's not how you stand by your car, but how you race it", and keep a straight face is clearly destined for bigger and better things.
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