"Faster" Movie Review (2010)

"Faster" Movie Review

Directed by George Tillman, Jr. Written by Tony and Joe Gayton, Rated R, 95-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Nothing ruins a serviceable B-Movie faster than a budget. By removing the difficulties that go into making schlocky actioneers, too much money also discards the heart.

Case in point: "Faster," a decent idea for a B-car movie that’s thrown into traffic by boring performances from good actors.  I has a wretched script filled with bad lines and worse plot twists, and it features an obnoxious sound design that will likely leave your head throbbing.

An unnamed ex-con (Dwayne Johnson) seeks revenge on his brother’s killers, as a disgraced and soon-to-be retired cop (Billy Bob Thornton) and overzealous and soon-to-be committed hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) hunt him down. Along the way, we learn of their interconnected pasts, how they strive for redemption--and just how boring a potentially exciting story can be when mishandled.

"Faster" is anything but new--and we’re not the only one’s bored by the hackneyed story.  Veterans such as Billy Bob Thornton sleepwalk their way through the picture, moving through one predictable plot twist to the other. Such genre movies only work when the cast cares about the material. If they aren’t interested, I see no reason why anyone else should be.

It’s not necessarily the basic premise that’s to blame as much as the script. The Brothers Gayton struggle to stay relevant and cool with lines about being “punked” but they end up sounding  like Quasimodo. When two separate characters are referred to as “that dude” in two separate scenes over the course of 15-seconds, you know there’s a problem.

Beyond the fact that the script is bursting with lousy dialogue, characterizations and plot points, the film boasts one hell of an annoying sound design. Guns explode, tires scream, engines burst and ears bleed across Driver’s adventure, but at no point does the volume help to make the film more exciting.

Director George Tillman, Jr. soaks up every remaining dollar with overcomplicated shots and lighting designs, but he fails to do the same to boost the action. In fact, what action sequences the movie has appear too infrequently and end too soon.

"Faster" never engages with its audience and frequently turns them off by its inability to stay on the road. It’s an action movie without action, a B-movie without enthusiasm, and finally, just a waste of time.

Grade: C-