The original B-list cast returns for a fourth installment of this enduring franchise. The plot of Fast & Furious centers around Domonic Torretto (Vin Diesel) who returns to the United States after his girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is brutally murdered. Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) is an FBI agent tasked with dismantling a drug cartel while bringing Dom in.
The opening scene is just as exciting as the trailer, and does a fantastic job of getting the audience’s adrenaline pumping. While the movie challenges itself to maintain that opening rush, it does manage to come close. The special effects are well done, and the car chases, explosions, and women should be familiar to those who have seen the first three films. While the story is just an excuse for the cast to get all ‘fast and furious,’ it attempts a textbook plot twist that you may figure out before the characters do.
Fast & Furious is by no means a great film but it delivers what is promised: a fun movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is the type of movie where if you decided (yourself!) that you are going to see this movie, then you will most likely enjoy it.
State of Play
The unlikely team of veteran newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) and novice internet blogger Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) are launched into a conspiracy surrounding the privatization of U.S. national security and mercenaries hired by the United States army (Backwater anyone?). At the head of the controversy is Representative Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), a Congressman who’s also forced to deal with the recent murder of his assistant and secret mistress.
The performances by the cast are the film’s strong point. Crowe and McAdams are engaging and believable, while Affleck does a great job sneaking into the all-star cast and garnering a well-deserved acting credit. The supporting cast is worth mentioning as well: Helen Mirren plays the newspapers hardened editor who shares time between keeping the newspaper alive and her reporters out of trouble, while Jason Bateman is one of Cal’s story’s eccentric inside sources.
Much of the plot is well-designed to keep the movie interesting. Cal was college roommates with Collins and thus wrestles between exonerating his friend and selling newspapers with the exclusive story of a lifetime. The film stays true to the term thriller as several scenes had the audience on the edge of their seats. Towards the end however, the film lags while trying to tie-up all the lose ends. This is accented by the final plot twist that is certainly unexpected albeit not well developed which may leave some of the audience scratching their heads. This is a movie you should definitely seek out.
Observe & Report
Seth Rogen plays mentally-unstable mall cop Ronnie Barnhardt who, when tasked with bringing a parking-lot-pervert to justice, sees this as his chance to prove himself to Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) and become the hero of the day. We then watch Ronnie power-trip his way around the mall while trying to seduce Brandi (Anna Faris), who works in cosmetics at one of the mall’s department stores.
I consider myself very open-minded when it comes to comedy, this movie failed in that aspect of which it advertised itself as. Observe and Report seemed more interested in being politically-incorrect than entertaining. While I can take the overly-offensive humor, the laughs were few and far between and despite the movie’s hour and a half running time, it seemed to drag on.
I would recommend seeing this film if you didn’t think Paul Blart was bad enough or if you didn’t get your fill of male nudity from this year’s Watchmen. While I can say that Observe and Report delivers something that I have never seen before, it is also something that is probably not worth seeing.
Reviewed By Robert Keyes and Ryan Connors
