if only they didn't speak....

Rating: 5/10 (26 September 2001)

'The Fast and the Furious' is good when it is both fast and furious. The problem with the film lies in between. Well, actually the problem with the film is any time an actor opens their mouth and spouts out some sort of inane dialogue. Paul Walker delivers his lines with the same deadpan, almost non acting approach that has made Keanu Reeves famous. His voice sounds the same too. If I had closed my eyes I would have sworn it was Keanu. I was just waiting for him to spout out the words "Whoa" or "Dude". No such luck however. Vin Diesel was disappointing as well. At least acting wise that is. He does fill in his role well, as he has the right look. The acting and directing, still, are both horrible. The parts of the movie with dialogue are horrible. The parts of the movie with the cars, however, are not.
This movie has the absolute best, most high octane and exciting car racing(and chasing)scenes I have ever seen in my life. The movie excels on this level. It is a great adrenaline rush just watching it. I wish the movie was silent with a lot of the car scenes because then we would have had a great action movie. Unfortunately they bogged it all down by trying to incorporate a plot(a bad one I might add), your standard romances, and you standard double crosses. It excels on one level, but on the level that makes a movie great, it completely flounders. It is worth watching to see the car races, especially if you like that sort of thing. But if you are like me, and you require good acting, good dialogue and a good story, well then you probably won't be that impressed. 5 out of 10.