One Fast Move review
For most of its nearly two hour run time, One Fast Move feels stuck in neutral. Director/writer Kelly Blatz (Fear the Walking Dead) seems unwilling to take any interesting or risky detours with this racing film.
Blatz dutifully plays all the greatest hits of a standard sports movie, but when racing reality shows are more suspenseful there’s a problem.
KJ Apa (Riverdale) plays Wes, a young maverick who feels the need…the need for speed. His latest street racing escapade landed him in prison for six months. Upon his release, Wes decides to finally look up his deadbeat dad Dean Miller (Eric Dane, Bad Boys: Ride or Die), a lifer pro racer whose glory days are long in his rear view.
Wes doesn’t want to get in some long overdue father/son bonding time. Instead, he wants Dean’s help to be a racer…like his father before him. Relieved to not have to deal with any bothersome responsibilities, Dean agrees to train Wes. And even sets him up with a job at the motorcycle repair shop owned by his mentor, Abel (Edward James Olmos, Mayans M.C.).
Naturally, Wes also makes good with local waitress Camila (Maia Reficco, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin). Even for a racing/sports movie, Wes and Camila’s instant connection isn’t believable. Especially since Wes doesn’t seem to own or have the ability to borrow or buy a shirt that isn’t riddled with holes. Dean isn’t thrilled with this budding relationship as he considers serious relationships dream killers.
In lieu of a racing rival, Blatz opts to make Wes’ main adversary Dean. That’s tough as it’s obvious right from the start that Dean is a loser. There’s only so much life advice Wes should take from this guy. Unless Wes needs some tips on curing hangovers. At least Dean can provide useful insight when it comes to navigating a track.
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Blatz does shoot the racing scenes well. There’s some nice behind the wheel perspectives and some solid close-up shots of speeding along a track. Unfortunately, Blatz seems to realize this is a strength as well padding out every racing scene to the point they become tedious and hopelessly repetitive.
It’s why Vin Diesel and the crew quickly pivoted the Fast and Furious series to street racing to the Avengers on wheels. One Fast Move can’t make six or seven races with multiple laps around the track any more interesting than the last one.
The performances are solid. Olmos delivers his scenes with such presence that it elevates his scenes. Apa is fine making for a convincing lead with moderate material. Dane has one scene where the script just fails him, and he compounds it by dramatically overacting. There’s a minor twist involving Camila that doesn’t do Reficco any favors either. Again, it’s more the script than the cast.
Blatz needed to use less time doing laps and more on the four key cast members. That’s the benefit of having such an intimate cast. There’s more time to spend developing the characters and their bonds with each other.
One Fast Move doesn’t do enough to stand out from a slew of more exciting, thrilling and engaging sports racing films. It needed a nitrous boost that Blatz isn’t interested in pushing it even for a second.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Photo Credit: Amazon Studios
One Fast Move is available now on Amazon Prime.
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