A decade in prison with a single focus in mind would leave anyone this angry.
What They Say:
On the very day he’s released from a 10-year prison sentence, convicted bank robber Driver (Dwayne Johnson) hits the streets to take revenge on the men who bungled the job that got him busted and his beloved brother killed. But close on Driver’s tail are a driven cop (Billy Bob Thornton) on the one hand and a flamboyant contract killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) on the other. George Tillman Jr. directs this thriller that also stars Carla Gugino.
The Review:
With Dwayne Johnson looking to get back a bit more into the action arena, especially after some fair like Tooth Fairy (we still like The Game Plan, so no picking on that), Faster is a pretty ideal and simple vehicle for him to just be fairly badass. The film came out over Thanksgiving weekend 2010 and made a nice little impression but not a lasting one as it racked up about twenty-five million dollars, which is what its production budget was. Directed by George Tillman after Phil Joanou dropped out, it covers all the bases well for its ninety-seven minute run time but it doesn’t stretch itself or really stand out in a way that makes it its own.
Dwayne Johnson takes on the role of Driver, a man with no name that just finished serving out a ten year prison sentence for being, obviously enough, a driver in a bank robbery that went bad. Well, the robbery itself went alright but there were complications afterward that landed him in jail while everyone else was dead and a boatload of money that disappeared. Now that he’s out, he wants revenge on those who caused it all to happen because it resulted in the death of his brother, whom he saw sliced open right before his eyes. It’s a straightforward setup as Driver is out of prison during the opening credits sequence and off he goes to get the things he’s got left to him so he can hunt them down.
The draw to a movie like this is watching Johnson playing a seriously angry yet controlled man who is intending to kill people. With a souped up car, a really strong gun in hand and plenty of motivation, it’s easy to get pulled along for the ride. There’s a mystery involved to it as well since there are players involved that he’s not aware of, as all the information he got isn’t the sum total of what happened in the past, and there are some other angles as well that are played. The obvious one is in watching the police going after him as we get the veteran cop that’s going to retire in just a few weeks played by Billy Bob Thornton and the younger but definitely established one in Carla Gugino. There are some layers to be had here, but it’s fairly predictable for the most part so once you see the players arrive on screen, you know who will be what.
As we watch Driver going through the few people he has to kill over the course of it, particularly at the beginning, it’s fun to see him looking so pissed off and with few words as he just walks right up to one of them in an office and shoots him. Hell, he even takes one down in a hospital in the middle of surgery. Driver’s not a bad badass but he doesn’t have a heart of gold as he goes through it. He does have something of a conscience though and he’s not interested in killing anyone other than those he has justification for. In fact, the subplot involving the hired assassin, known only as Killer, shows that pretty well. That subplot feels weird in general as he’s a very good assassin who lives with a gorgeous blonde played by Maggie Grace who knows who he is and sort of encourages. He’s dealing with his therapist on the phone as he’s hired to take out Driver by an unknown client before said client gets killed. Yet Killer has a strange conscience all of his own and he finds himself wanting to retire and marry her. It feels so unnecessary to the story and comes across more as padding things out more than anything else.
So what makes the film work on a basic level is that it has him going around being violent and surviving some highly unlikely situations. Tillman handles the action pretty well and I actually liked that he didn’t go for a lot of fast cuts but rather lets the action hold its own. The driving aspect of it is pretty well handled as well, with a good sense of power behind the cars and no over the top moments that makes you roll your eyes. Johnson handles everything like a pro here and keeping it to a simple costume design and a look that has him grim throughout, he fits everything perfectly with what you’d expect someone like this to be going into a situation like this. The rest of the cast is fairly bland overall, not that Johnson really has a whole lot of strong character or standout moments, but they fill the roles without making them their own. But with a movie like this, it’s not exactly a requirement. Anything that would have made them over the top would have thrown off the dynamic of the movie instead.
In Summary:
While I can’t imagine myself ever watching it again on purpose, Faster is a fun little movie that made for an entertaining viewing but is pretty light overall. Johnson’s been a favorite of mine for several years now and I enjoy him both in these kinds of roles and his more family oriented fare. For a movie like this, he has the right look and presence to pull off the role of Driver and the rest of the cast is solid without being overly memorable. Tillman does a serviceable job here with the material and the overall execution and style gives it a rough feeling without being distracting from what’s going on. The story of revenge is an old one to be sure and this one has some minor twists along the way that has you looking forward to the reveals that are inevitable.
Grade: C+
Format: Blu-ray
Recommendation: Rental only
