The Fast and the Furious

The Fast and the Furious is a real lads' film with sexy chicks, cool guys and fast cars, which come close to being the film's real attraction.

Brian Spilner is a speed-loving young man who makes a spectacular entrance at one of the illegal street races in Los Angeles. He does not beat the king of them all, the muscle-bound Dominic Toretto, but he does win his trust, and they become friends. The plot picks up speed when it turns out that Brian is in fact an undercover policeman, part of a larger investigation to expose a gang of rather professional car hijackers. Toretto and his gang of car enthusiasts are the prime suspects.

Just as in "Donnie Brasco", in which Johnny Depp plays the police infiltrator, Brian becomes so attached to the people he has been assigned to watch that he finds it hard to think clearly. It does not make things easier that he falls in love with Dominic's sister Mia.

Paul Walker is not particularly convincing as a policeman, as he comes across as rather unintelligent and, to put it mildly, not particularly articulate. Then again, he gets no help from the script, whose dialogue is almost embarrassing. There is more meat on Vin Diesel's role as the speed-crazy Dominic Toretto, but it is in the entertaining action sequences that the film works best, provided you can ignore the noisy heavy metal soundtrack.