"Life in the 'Fast' Lane"
by Scott Mantz

"The Fast and the Furious"
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker
Directed by Rob Cohen

Hot wheels! Vin Diesel and Paul Walker put the pedal to the metal in "The Fast and the Furious"

Some movies are like long drives on a hot summer day--you know where you're going, so you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. "The Fast and the Furious" is definitely one of those movies. Loud, predictable, and ultimately enjoyable for what it is, the film is a fast-paced thrill ride that crosses the finish line as a high octane guilty pleasure.

Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) is a rookie cop who's got a lot to prove. He's trying to get to the bottom of a recent string of truck hijackings, and his on ly link to the operation is Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), the leader of a gang of underworld street car racers in Los Angeles. Brian goes undercover to gather evidence against Dominic and his cohorts, but the more involved he becomes, the harder it is for him to choose between his loyalty to his job and his respect for Dominic. Of course, the situation becomes even more complicated when Brain falls in love with Dominic's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster).

Think of "The Fast and the Furious" as a combination of "Donnie Brasco," "Gone in 60 Seconds," and "Boyz N the Hood" (or better yet, think of it as "Rebel Without a Car!"). At first, Brian will do whatever it takes to crack the case, but in no time, he comes to respect the very person who he will eventually have to put away. He has to choose between saving his job and saving his soul, and while tremendous shortcomings in the script prevent a full emotional connection from taking hold, the immense appeal of the leads and the downright thrilling stunts on the road more than make up for it.

The film may be all about having a good-looking young cast and even better-looking young cars, but beneath the surface, it also takes on some surprisingly heavy issues. There's a lot more at stake than whoever has the hottest wheels. People not only place their bets for upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, but the various gangs--Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, and Caucasians--also battle each other for the respect of their peers and for control of various parts of the city.

"The Fast and the Furious" makes good use of it's well-matched stars. It's hard to resist Paul Walker's understated struggle (not to mention his baby blue eyes) as he tries to do what's right, and Vin Diesel is relatively powerful given the absurdity of the some of his dialogue. (By the way, isn't it ironic that a guy named "Diesel" is in a movie about cars? OK, never mind.) On the other hand, Jordana Brewster makes the most of her underwritten role as Walker's love interest, while Michelle Rodriguez--who was simply spectacular in last year's "Girlfight"--merely spends most of her time looking pissed off and sexy as hell (something she does pretty well!).

Getting back to what I said about comparing movies to long drives, sometimes when you think too hard about where you're going, you won't enjoy the ride. That being the case, if you don't expect much from "The Fast and the Furious" in terms of strong character development (although it does try), then you'll be taken on a cinematic thrill ride that runs laps around other recent race car flicks like "Driven" and "Gone in 60 Seconds." It's a souped-up Hollywood machine that puts the pedal to the metal, and as long as you sit back, relax, and go with it, you won't be disappointed.

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