Stay 'til the very end, after the credits roll, for the conclusive ending

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2001)

I wouldn't call this 'trashy' goods. It's a perfectly good Hollywood script. Besides the car 'dueling' action sequences, it includes energy of the younger set (20 something's), the eagerness to experience risks, and the plight to feel the spirit of freedom - even if it's a matter of moments. Death is not an ominous worry to them. They live for the moment.

Paul Walker is in the lead role of Brian, the undercover LA cop. He has worked with director Rob Cohen before in "The Skulls" 2000. Rob Cohen directed the "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" 1993 with Jason Scott Lee and Lauren Holly. Also "Dragonheart" 1993, a fable of a legend with Sean Connery doing voice of the Dragon which Dennis Quaid gallantly duels with. Cohen's movies may be Hollywood, yet they tend to have a backbone ethical/living outlook that prompts the integrity of the central character(s).

Vin Diesel is Dominic, the rebellious one here - can past as James Dean, the leader whom the gang looks up to. He stood out in "Boiler Room" 2000, opposite Giovanni Ribisi, and was the only good thing in "Pitch Black" 2000, the sci-fi flick which he was the lead opposite Radha Mitchell (from "High Art" 1998 opposite Ally Sheedy.)
Jordana Brewster was last seen as the furiously grieving sister of Cameron Diaz in "The Invisible Circus" playing opposite Christopher Eccleston (who's in "Gone in 60 Seconds," another fast cars and chase flick). Brewster is Dominic's feisty sister Mia, furiously sulky here besides having a chance to be fast (driving, matching up to the testosterone bunch.) Michelle Rodriguez is Dominic's woman, full of anger within, charged with a devil may care defiance. The role of Johnny by Rick Yune has a flavor of Giovanni Ribisi's energy as in "Gone in 60 Seconds." But Cohen's "The Fast and the Furious" is comparably more substantial and colorful in storyline and character development, even comes with a 'dream' quote for the fast and the furious: "I live my life quarter of a mile per second at a timenothing else mattersin those 10 seconds, I'm free." And the backbone that held together the friendship between Walker and Diesel's characters is soundly strong.

Be sure to stay on to the very end of the movie - after all the credits roll, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker you'll see, and you get to hear Dominic's quote once again (besides receiving a satisfying closure to the story.)