What a mess...

Rating: 2/10 (24 July 2001)

The problem that The Fast and The Furious has is that it is inconsistent. It at times is a police drama, at times a car movie, a gun movie and a romance. As a result, it fails on all counts, and fails spectacularly.

The acting is pitiful, but the writing may be worse. There are times where lines are delivered so poorly that the actors seem to have simply given up trying to salvage the train wreck of a script. The attempts at "street cred" are embarrassing ("dawg,") and the film's method of sounding technically proficient is to deliver lines of dialogue that sound like the actors are reading an inventory list at AutoZone.
The most frustrating thing about the movie is that it refused to budge from its somewhat complex story line. While nothing brilliant, the story was more developed that a standard action flick's. This is only a problem because the film was absolutely not up to the task. The action was nonsensical, and surprisingly scarce. The movie lacked a true protagonist because everyone was far too annoying to root for. The actors themselves seemed lost; milling around, reading lines.
It is important to mention the cars themselves, though, since this is being billed as a `car movie.' And that depends on what is expected from a car movie. If you are hoping for Camaro SSs and Hemi Cudas, you will be disappointed. If you are looking for Acuras and Hondas, you'll see them. If you're looking for Ronin-style car chases or Blues Brothers silliness, you'll be disappointed. If you want to see tiny cars driving in straight lines in fifteen-second bursts, you'll see it.
In the end, the only thing I found at all satisfying was the romance aspect of the movie, which the furthest thing from my mind when I bought my ticket. If I were Vin Diesel, I would have taken one look at the script and one look at my cast mates and then I would have stolen one of their souped up jalopies and hightailed it back to a real movie career.