Limacher Low Down: Faster is a movie that I thought would be action packed with a basic revenge story line tying all the violence together, and I was WAY OFF! Faster was slower than a street sweeper at times, but the acting and plot is what takes center stage in this movie. With multiple twists and turns that take the viewer on an enjoyable ride, but for the action nut Faster will leave a somewhat bitter taste in your mouth. It wasn’t terrible, but some predictability and lack of over the top action takes away from how much better this movie could have been.
Faster starts off when a man simply known as Driver (Dwayne Johnson) is getting out of jail. We know nothing of his past or what he plans to do. The first thing he does is get a car (a Chevy Chevelle SS) that was waiting for him and we’re off to the races. The revenge starts off within the first five minutes, but the question is still why the is this guy so angry? The first kill is the one they constantly show in previews with Driver making his way through an office to find his first “victim”.
We learn that Driver hired Roy Grone (Mike Epps) to find all the people he was after and supply him with a car. Meanwhile back at the crime scene we meet Cop (Billy Bob Thornton) an officer 10 days from retirement, down on his luck, and seeking one last case to retire on. Cop’s supervising officer on the case is Cicero (Carla Gugino), who once again plays the grizzled woman who feels the need to be the hard-ass. While the two of them are investigating tapes they realize that the victim knows Driver and apparently knows what is coming.
Next we see pictures of a kid who seemed to have it hard when he was a child only to become a multi-millionaire in his adult life. He gets a call from his “Boss” and gets told he has some work from an anonymous person who wants Driver taken out. If you haven’t guessed by now this guy is named Killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). He gets the info he needs to have on Driver and as the old cliché goes, the chase is on.
Driver and Killer have short little gun play when Driver is going down his list and we now have all the pieces in place to really make this movie take off. Unfortunately the movie stalls out in certain parts, but it’s the build of the story that takes over for the lack of action. As the movie progresses we find out the back story on Driver and why he was seeking revenge on the people he wants to see dead.
This is one of those movies where everyone has baggage and to add to character development we learn just enough about each person to gain that better understanding the will “drive” the viewer to the finish. The movie, I suppose, will keep some people guessing as to what will happen next and if Driver will ever be satisfied or if his conscience will catch up to him before he completes his list. The end is a good twist and kind of gives off that “WHAT THE FUCK?!!?” feeling that really adds to the overall feel of the movie. With that said, I will not give anything away, but I WILL SAY that truth be told, I was a little upset by the lack of action; but sometimes people have to sacrifice one thing to get another in return. The acting was better than I expected, and the story was well written and does make for an interesting viewing. If you enjoy the old school, slow paced, story driven, revenge style movies than Faster is worth checking out, but if you want a thrilling action flick, you may be disappointed.
