FAST X: 10 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR FANS, 2 ½ STARS FOR EVERYONE ELSE
Everything about 鈥淔ast X,鈥 the latest entry in the 鈥淔ast and Furious鈥 franchise, is big. Really big.
The A-lister cast list is a laundry list, including returning stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Charlize Theron along with the addition of superhero movie veterans Jason Momoa and Brie Larson. The villain is faster and more furious than ever before and the action can only be described as bigly. There鈥檚 even a surprise cameo from one of the world鈥檚 biggest movie stars.
But is bigger always better?
A jumble of the usual mix of family, friends, fast cars and flashbacks, 鈥淔ast X鈥 begins with relative calm in the world of former criminal and professional street racer Dominic Toretto (Diesel). The patriarch of the 鈥淔&F鈥 gang, he has left the fast life behind, and retired with wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), and his son Brian.
鈥淲e used to live our lives a quarter mile at a time,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut things change.鈥
Not so fast, there Dom.
Dom鈥檚 past comes back to haunt him in the form of flamboyant villain Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), the sadistic, revenge-fuelled son of drug lord Hernan Reyes.
鈥淚鈥檓 Dante,鈥 he says by way of introduction. 鈥淓nchanté.鈥
Way back in 鈥淔ast Five鈥 Dom and Co. were responsible for the loss of the Reyes family fortune. 鈥淭he great Dominic Toretto,鈥 Dante snarls. 鈥淚f you never would鈥檝e gotten behind that wheel, I鈥檇 never be the man I am today. And now, I鈥檓 the man who鈥檚 going to break your family, piece by piece.鈥
Cue the set-up to the second part of the franchise鈥檚 three-part finale. It is, as they say on the movie poster, just the beginning of the end.
In the 鈥淔ast & Furious鈥 world the word 鈥渓udicrous鈥 is not just the name of prominent cast member Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, it鈥檚 also the name of the game. Since the franchise鈥檚 humble 2001 debut, the movies have grown bigger and sillier with each entry.
鈥淚f it can violate the laws of God and gravity,鈥 says Agent Aimes (Alan Ritchson) in 鈥淔ast X,鈥 鈥渢hey do it twice.鈥
The latest one redefines ridiculousness.
The out-of-control car stunts that crowd the screen have no touchstone in reality, other than the cars have four wheels and drive along streets when they aren鈥檛 bursting into flames or flying through the air. It鈥檚 as if the wild car chases were dreamed up by 14-year-olds playing with their Hot Wheels sets as images of canon cars danced in their heads. Anything goes, and no idea is too big or too ludicrous.
When the tires aren鈥檛 squealing, Dom is whinging on about the importance of family with a straight face and a serious tone that makes Leslie Nielsen鈥檚 鈥淣aked Gun鈥 deadpan look positively flamboyant. Only Momoa seems to understand how colossally silly the whole thing is, and has fun pulling faces, doing a Grand Jeté or two and peacocking around as he rolls a neutron bomb through the streets of Rome. It鈥檚 a ludicrous performance in a completely ludicrous movie and it fits.
The bombastic 鈥淔ast X鈥 is overstuffed with characters 鈥 it seems like every actor in Hollywood has a cameo 鈥 plot and, if this is possible, it is overstuffed with excess. The very definition of 鈥済o big or go home,鈥 it is for 鈥淔&F鈥 fans who have been along for the ride for more than two decades, everyone else may want to take a detour.
WHAT鈥橲 LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?: 3 ½ STARS
鈥淲hat鈥檚 Love Got to Do with It,鈥 starring Lily James, fresh off 鈥淧am and Tommy,鈥 and Shazad Latif, and now playing in theatres, is a rom-com that examines the customs surrounding arranged marriages.
James plays Zoe, an award-winning British documentary filmmaker focussed on her work. She swipes right from time to time, but says, 鈥淚鈥檓 still interviewing. I haven鈥檛 met the one yet.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 fine without a boring old prince,鈥 she says.
Her childhood next door neighbour, Kaz (Latif), now a handsome and successful doctor, doesn鈥檛 use dating apps, because he鈥檚 agreed to follow the example of his traditional Pakistani parents.
鈥淚鈥檓 going old school on this one,鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 getting an arranged marriage. Well, 'assisted marriage.' That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e calling it these days.鈥
鈥淲hat,鈥 Zoe jokes, 鈥渓ike assisted suicide?鈥
When he spouts data that suggests the divorce rate is lower among those with arranged marriages, she proposes that she follow the process, from introduction to marriage, with camera in hand. Her bosses go for the idea, even if they jokingly call the planned documentary, 鈥淟ove Contractually.鈥
Zoe interviews other British couples with arranged marriages until Kaz gets engaged via Skype to Maymouna (Sajal Aly), a law student from Pakistan.
鈥淟ove at first Skype,鈥 says Zoe. Travelling to Lahore for the wedding, Zoe focuses her camera on Kaz as he 鈥渨alks into love.鈥
鈥淲hat鈥檚 Love Got to Do with it?鈥 refreshes the usual rom com formula while still hewing the line enough to be recognizable within the genre. Director Shekhar Kapur, working with a script from Jemima Khan, embraces most, but not all, of the tropes of the genre. They forego the most obvious鈥攁nd often most odious鈥攔om-com conventions, in favour of something deeper. It鈥檚 still a rom-com, but the absence of the usual meet cutes and airport runs are welcome omissions.
Kapur tugs at the heartstrings in the film鈥檚 closing moments, amping up the melodrama to provide an unexpectedly emotional finale, even if the actual ending of the film is completely expected. Much of that impact is due to the chemistry between James and Latif. An easy charm exists between them, the kind of vibe that makes the audience feel like they really did grow up next door to one another. That relationship goes a long way to adding dimension to their story, both platonic and possibly even romantic.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 Love Got to Do with It?鈥 is an elevated rom-com which challenges the idea of love as a sweet old-fashioned notion.
MASTER GARDENER: 3 STARS
For almost 50 years writer/director Paul Schrader has essayed God鈥檚 lonely men; 鈥淭axi Driver鈥檚鈥 Travis Bickle, Julian in 鈥淎merican Gigolo鈥 and 鈥淔irst Reformed鈥檚鈥 Reverend Toller, among others. They are isolated characters, men who live outside regular society, haunted by the lives they鈥檝e led.
In his latest film, 鈥淢aster Gardener,鈥 now playing in theatres, Schrader adds a new name to his soul-searching rogue鈥檚 gallery.
鈥淕ardening is a belief in the future,鈥 says horticulturalist Narvel Roth, played with a quiet intensity by Joel Edgerton, 鈥渢hat change will come in due time.鈥
His words come steeped with meaning. A former neo-Nazi 鈥 his repulsive, racist tattoos now hidden under ever-present long-sleeved shirts 鈥 he has turned his life around and now works at the stately Gracewood Gardens. The hundred-year-old botanical beauty sits on a property owned for generations by the Haverhill family, and is the pride of mercurial old money maven Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver).
Meticulous and methodical in his duties, Roth cultivates the award-winning garden with a steady hand. It鈥檚 a simple, spartan life, ruled by self-discipline and routine.
When he isn鈥檛 digging in the dirt, he occasionally visits the big colonial house for a meal, a quick tryst or a consultation with Haverhill. On one such meeting he is told that Haverhill鈥檚 biracial grandniece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) will be joining his team. The troubled young woman has fallen in with a bad crowd, and Haverhill thinks the discipline and quietude of working in the garden will straighten her out.
He agrees to show her the ropes, not realizing that her presence will upset the serenity of the garden, his new life and his relationship with Haverhill.
鈥淭he seeds of love grow like the seeds of hate,鈥 he writes in his journal.
鈥淢aster Gardener鈥 observes racism and redemption, wondering aloud if emancipation from the stigma of past deeds is possible.
Roth is a complex character, played like a tightly wound Chauncey Gardiner, whose terrible past presents itself in flashbacks that hint at the maelstrom bubbling beneath his stoic exterior. He is a Schrader architype, a solitary man whose involvement with a protégée could complicate his life, but Edgerton sets him apart from recent Schrader characters with a mix of the serene and physical. The work is both elegant and aloof, straightforward and elliptical, and showcases Edgerton鈥檚 charisma and versatility as a leading man, when not covered in a layer of blue make-up.
He is ably supported by Swindell, who brings intelligence and understanding to the role, even if her horror at Roth鈥檚 racist past evaporates a little too easily.
Weaver, as a stereotype of every isolated wealthy matron, chews it up, delivering lines like, 鈥淚 thought you had a green thumb, but it turns out you have a green middle finger,鈥 with gusto.
鈥淢aster Gardener鈥 is apparently the wrap to Schrader鈥檚 recent Calvanist guilt trilogy. While interesting and as rich in allegory as the previous two films 鈥 "First Reformed鈥 and 鈥淭he Card Counter鈥 鈥 its study of redemption, while hopeful and even-handed, requires too many leaps of logic to fully embrace.
