Movie # 79 -- The Fast and The Furious

Title: The Fast and The Furious

Director: Rob Cohen

Release Year: 2001

Plot Summary: Paul Walker plays n undercover cop trying to break up a highway robbery ring which Vin Diesel may or may not be a part of.

Thoughts: The first time that I saw this, I thought that it might be the dumbest movie I had ever seen. Upon having recently seen it again, I've determined that it isn't that bad, but it's still pretty awful.

The cast is pretty bad -- Vin Diesel is "blah" and Michelle Rodriguez is typecast as the "bad-ass girlfriend with the heart of gold. But then there's Paul Walker... this guy makes Hayden Christensen look like Robert Deniro. I mean, he is down right terrible.

Rob Cohen looks and feels like he went to the George Lucas school of filmmaking, though: throw enough explosions and pretty neat special effects at the viewer and maybe they won't notice that the story kinda sucks and the dialogue is awful: "I live my life a quarter of a mile at a time."? C'mon...

That being said, this is a big, dumb, and mildly amusing film. It's not going to set worlds on fire by any stretch of the imagination but as a pure popcorn flick, I guess you could do worse.

Rating (0-10): 5.25 (and no, that does not mean it's above average).

Recomendations: If you buy this, you probably need help. Also, I can't (in good conscience) recommend any film that encourages kids to pimp out their Honda Civics.