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The letter of the day is F
Didn't expect to see another column so quickly, did you??? Saw A Knight's Tale and liked it. Heath Ledger has a great future ahead of him. Makes me want to time-travel to the end of 2001 and see Four Feathers, now. In this issue, we have a review of a movie starring another future superstar, Vin Diesel, in The Fast and The Furious. Also featured today is a set report from someone who spent two days working as an extra on The Sum of All Fears.
A 'Furious' Review
Good ole 'Hollyfeld' had the wonderful pleasure of seeing the film last week. Here are his thoughts on it, but first click here to read his latest column:
"Hollyfeld, here. The Fast and The Furious doesn’t come out until June 22, but I managed to catch a glimpse of the finished product this weekend. (The closing credits had no music, and I had the feeling that there might be a little more music at the beginning of the film when it’s released, but this is definitely it.) So how was it? Pretty damn good, actually, for a 'Guy Film'. It’s a little treat that’s high on testosterone, and kind of low on brains. But it has Vin Diesel (Saving Private Ryan, Pitch Black), an actor who is exactly what the action genre needs right now. Alone, Diesel earns this film one star more that it otherwise deserves, but I get ahead of myself.
The Fast and The Furious stars Paul Walker (Pleasantville, Varsity Blues) as Brian Spindler, an auto mechanic who seems determined to make his way in the Los Angeles illegal drag racing circuit, and the best way to do that seems to join the team led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel), apparently the greatest drag racer in town. It doesn’t hurt, of course, the Paul has fallen for Dominic’s sister, Mia (The Faculty and As The World Turns’ Jordana Brewster), giving him added incentive to make good with the gang. Gradually, he begins to earn Dominic’s trust and Mia’s heart, but is Brian all that he seems? What is his ulterior motive, and what does it have to do with the recent string of daredevil high-speed robberies occurring all over town?
The plot of The Fast and the Furious is a very simple one, but is told in an unfortunately roundabout way that ends up doing the film a disservice. Not horribly so, but one last re-write on the script probably would have been a good idea. The characters, however, surprisingly shine here. Vin Diesel and Jordana Brewster show just how huge they are going to be very soon by turning what could have been cookie-cutter action characters into believable, interesting, and truly involving characters. Brewster (whose career I have been following since her As The World Turns days with The Forsaken’s Kerr Smith) shows that she can elevate average material with her charm (and not just her beauty), and Vin Diesel turns Dominic into my favorite action character since, well, Vin Diesel’s Riddick in Pitch Black. The guy just exudes charisma, which is rare for an action star. Although one can easily believe that Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone can take out all the antagonists in a bloody battle, none of them have ever portrayed a person with enough magnetism to make you want to fight along with them. Diesel does, and for that he is going to be huge, I swear it.
Paul Walker does an okay job with his role, but it is probably the most flat character in the bunch, and any number of young actors could have portrayed Brian just as well (if not better). But he’s cute and easy to watch and does a good job. I have a feeling that, unlike, Diesel, his niche is not in action films - looking at his spectacular roles in Pleasantville and Varsity Blues really makes me want to start casting him in romantic comedies, where I think he will really shine. His scenes with Brewster, casually flirting, making another member of Diesel’s gang jealous, are their Walker’s best, although his bonding scenes with Diesel are certainly the second best sequences in the film.
Second best? Of course, I almost forgot the action sequences...
Yeah, you’ve seen the action sequences in the trailer, and yes, they really are that impressive throughout the whole film (although I must confess that this was certainly the loudest film I’ve ever been to - we’re talking teeth rattling here - but that may have been because I was pigeon-holed into the first row of the theater). Director Rob Cohen (Dragonheart, The Rat Pack) does some of his best visual work here (although I think The Rat Pack is still his best achievement - especially the way he portrayed Don Cheadle’s Sammy Davis Jr.’s feelings of isolation through his environment and that great fantasy sequence, but I digress). I read somewhere that The Fast and the Furious uses a new kind of camera that can travel at eighty miles per hour (as opposed to the previous limit, fifty) in order to pick up faster car chases, and these sequences rock. If anything, I wish that there had been more of them. Leave the audience wanting more was the plan, I guess, but another full throttle robbery or two would have really cemented the importance of that element of the film.
So, in short, there was some good action stuff (not enough perhaps, but quality work nonetheless) and some quality character interaction in between. Altogether, The Fast and the Furious is not a great film. There are a good number of fairly stupid, or at least unexamined elements to the plot, and not all the character work is at the level of Diesel’s, Brewster’s, or even Michelle Rodriguez’s (Girlfight, Resident Evil: Ground Zero - playing Diesel’s very hot girlfriend). But although these factors bring the overall score of the film down below greatness, it’s still a strong effort for all those involved and a damned entertaining film. (On a personal note, it was nice to see all the places they shot on location, being a Los Angelino. I was able to get into the film even more so than others may by being able to think, 'Hey! I eat there.' Tight.)
And, if nothing else, it’s certainly a lot better than that 'other' summer blockbuster movie. I don’t want to point fingers - ah, hell, yes I do. The Mummy Returns sucks, damn it. I just don’t get it. I really don’t! I mean, I liked the first one. Hell, I gave it 3 ½ stars! So what happened? Did Stephen Sommers just write the script in a weekend and say, 'Nah, this is good enough - screw the re-write process?' What’s going on in the world? Positive reviews all over the place? I just don’t understand it..."
(Review submitted by 'Hollyfeld', who is taking a little nap now.)
'The Sum of All Fears' Set Report
A simple set report from the movie shooting right now HERE in Montreal:
"I spent 2 days at the set of The Sum of All =ears. I was planning on just being one of the extras that sit in the stadium to make it look like the stadium was full of spectators, but luck was on my side and one of the producers came into the stands and chose me to be an extra ON THE SET, I was hired as a photo journalist taking pics of the super bowl. I am in the scene where the secret service rush the President (James Cromwell) out of the stadium because of the bomb threat, I am standing at the EXIT with other photographers (I am the only bald guy there, LOL) and we are held back by the Secret Service as the President is rushed by. It was a fantastic 2 days and I enjoyed it a lot, I got to meet James Cromwell and Morgan Freeman. Ben Affleck never showed up at the stadium.
James Cromwell is a very nice person, kind and very tall, and Morgan Freeman is bilingual.. I was surprised to hear him speak french... Something weird that happened on the set, I had my own camera with film in it and was taking pictures. Security came over to check me out and my camera.. when they found out that it was indeed my camera with film they wanted me to hand over the film, I told them I was not told that I was not allowed to take pictures and that if they insisted on taking my film they better be ready to replace it. She went off to speak to someone and came back and told me that I could keep my film but not to take any more pictures and that they better not see any pictures show up in the tabloids. It was fun and I had a great time, I got to eat with the stars and mingle with the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts."
(Scoop sent in by Robert.)
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
