The Clanton gang as long haul truck thieves and . . ?

Rating: Null/10 (15 February 2004)

SPOILERS!
Bad acting. Bad script. 'Hot babes'. Etc. Etc. That could be a typical review. But there's more to it, in my opinion.
On one level, a movie about drag racing . . 'rice rockets'? The NHRA has a new 'sports compact' division. And Harley Communications felt, in Sep 2002, that 'sports compact' racing was the "future of our sport". That's a bit disheartening. 9-11 second lil mini-mouse motors with turbochargers instead of big blocker supercharged race engines. Some future. The trick isn't knowing when to shift, but when to push the button?
On the other level, it's a film about gangsters, of various sorts, and particularly the main 'crew' of commercial track hijackers. It's the latter that tends to dominate the film. And I think the film is making its points not about the 'street racing', as such, but about its suggestions and 'lessons' when it comes to armed robbery. The twist on the film is that you don't really learn the identity of the 'crew' until the end, though it's suggested all along. Meanwhile, it's a cop backstory, which in the voice over the director, Cohen, said he personally found boring, compared to other scenes. He said Ted Devine (Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, and Luca's 'muscle' in the old Crime Story tv series) did 'his best', or something, with the scenes. It's can't be good when the director is describing the movie in this way on the DVD commentary.
As for the film, some things do ring true. Diesel, as best customer, phones up the 'speed shop', or whatever they now call themselves, and demands the undercover cop be fired. And the store owner reluctantly refuses. A power play. But it rings true to life. Same for the refitters, and job shops, that profit off these 'rice rocketeers', who don't ask where the money comes from. Just - sir (as from, sire) - sire, how may I serve the king? Just put the money on the table - integrity, we don't need no stinkin integrity (to borrow a line from the famous movie). From real estate to whatever, to government bribes, that does ring true. All money is 'clean', or dirty and no one cares.
The Vince character is the 'roid rage' guy, of the 'crew'. Give him a dirty look, and he'll play Billy the Kid and push you in the back. If he had a gun he'd come up and shoot you in the back of the head. He's the lovable psychopath that the undercover cop risks his life to rescue at the end, as Vince attempts to rob a truck at high speed, saving him from a terrified trucker with a shotgun, who becomes the 'bad guy'. The Vince character is real - little men with 10 ton chips on their shoulders, and desire to hurt people.
Another member of the 'crew' is the stereotype of the all-around 'genius' who flakes at the last when he loses a race, and makes off with the car he forfeited. I think they make him out to be MIT. Why they never pick Cal Tech for these films, I don't know, particularly since the story is in LA. And this is the point when the undercover guy starts to lose cover, and events are forced in other ways, as well. The 'genius' returns before the final chase to say - gee, I'm sorry. And, okay guys, it's time now the final race scene, off ya go!
Vin Diesel is decribed in the commentary as a 'rising star', or something of the sort. Good for him. He portrays an ex-con who runs the little band of crooks. His cars wins. He doesn't flinch when the undercover guy is caught by Vince, and Vince wants to blow him away with a shotgun. He's supposed to be 'honest', 'self-possessed', 'responsible', in some fashion, when he should be back in jail.
So when it comes to 'mini' racing, when it comes to gangs, this film is a clean, black and white, no consequences adolescent fantasy. This is World Wide Wrestling brought to a director's vision of import car 'turbo-racing', I guess you'd more properly call it. And will Vince makes it through you wonder? Poor ole misunderstood Vince. He just came from the wrong side of the tracks. Have pity on him. It's not his fault. He didn't choose this life. But, at the same time, be sure to throw the book at that shotgun wielding trucker. If only he'd known what a decent guy that Vince really was, deep down. I tell you - even though the director didn't want you to, I was rooting for the trucker.
I suppose one wonders about the popularity of Billy the Kid and John Hardin and others as popularized in serials of the day. How could people be caught up in such behavior. Maybe because it was far away, on the frontier? Maybe because it was always the guy sitting at the table, next to you, who got his head blown off for giving 'the kid' a dirty look? I don't know. But that's what this film calls to mind, for me. It's a simplistic, exaggerated glamorization of gangsterism, calling to mind the east coast 'penny dreadfuls' of generations past, and where the gang bangers are all nice, kind, good to their mothers, and always ready to be a friend to the poor and despised. In one form or another, this sort of fiction has sold well for over 100 years. And I think it's silly.