Dumb- and proud!

Rating: 6/10 (30 June 2001)

The Fast and The Furious is one of the most unapologetically stupid movies to come along in a while. It's about a bunch of drag racers, but really, it's all about the drag racing itself. The filmmakers know this, so they spent all their time on that stuff, and basically ignored usually important elements like plot, conflict, and dialogue. The result is a movie that is extremely watchable, but nevertheless very, very dumb.
If you care about plot, you obviously are thinking too hard at this movie. Still, TF&TF is about a few drag racers, led by Turetto (Vin Diesel), who gets mixed up with new kid on the block Brian (Paul Walker). We quickly learn Brian's a cop, looking for some guys who rip off semi trucks while they are driving. Anyway, by the end of the movie the film is so wrapped up in thrills and big explosions and things smashing into one another, it basically gives up on the plot, doesn't bother resolving several of the conflicts (Including Brian's weird love interest with Turetto's sister).
The acting and dialogue are truly laughably bad. When Vin Diesel says a line like "I live my life a quarter mile at a time...for those ten seconds or less, I'm free." I certainly laugh-how does he keep a straight face? These are lines that porn actors would have trouble delivering straight! Diesel is ideal for this role; he's physically intimidating (Paul Walker looks downright wussy next to him) and his no-emotion acting style really allows him to say stuff that other actors might actually think about when they delivered them and realize just how stupid they were going to sound.
Still, the racing stuff is very exciting, and a heist involving an angry truck driver is truly thrilling (Even though I didn't care one iota about who lived or who died). Even though there's a big plot hole in that scene, it'll be hours before you realize it. The conclusion is exciting AND humorous; yet makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This film is in-the-moment enjoyable, groan-worthy in retrospect.
Rob Cohen, director of the atrocious Daylight, and the slightly-less-atrocious, but still-pretty-horrible The Skulls, is a little better here, wisely avoiding to bathe all his pretty characters in golden halos of backlight and instead going for a much more realistic look. He's probably aided by the exciting material not the other way around. I'm still not convinced he's a good director.
Anyway, sad to say, I enjoyed this movie far more than just about any other action movie this summer...as lame as it is, it stays fairly enjoyable throughout. In a lot of places, the car-chase free parts stay fun cause the people talking sound so completely stupid. I laughed, I was entertained, I wished there were more movies out like Memento.