Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

Somehow the Morris mix just doesn't jell this time. I'm normally a huge fan of Mr. Morris's films, especially the truly great Gates of Heaven. But Fast, Cheap & Out of Control is ironically aptly titled. Instead of providing some quirky insight into the human condition, the film only manages to annoy. And our four subjects? Well, they grate on the nerves to be honest. It's hard to say what's missing, maybe a sense of humor, maybe some more directorial involvement. In any event, I wouldn't go out of my way to catch this flick.

I saw this film and loved it, though it was hard to gain the proper sense of perspective, as I know Dave (the lion tamer). However, it's interesting to note that Errol Morris is not nearly so controlling or manipulative as some viewers seem to think. He doesn't have to stretch the subject matter to try and make connections... he just lightly played the characters, and they all start to sound the same after a point. Anecdotal evidence? The obssessive robot scientist, after the making of the film, apparently decided the end of the world was coming, and holed up in his laboratory building his robot army (this is of course a rumor, from the lion tamer). In any event, he wouldn't come to any photo shoots after the release, so the other three men posed with a cardboard cutout of him... check the art and you might be able to tell.

This was easily the best film of 1997.

Morris has tried it all; one camera documentary, for Gates of Heaven; Rashomon tinged storytelling, with The Thin Blue Line; and now, finally, the beautiful and moving Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control.

In the earlier films, the viewer's left with the task of sifting through lots of unedited information to put together his own story from what's been gathered, rather like Ed Wood going through rolls of archival footage to see if there's a movie there. In this one, Morris had a story to tell, and he goes after it with aplomb and purpose. His camera angles are ingenious, his use of slow motion masterful, and the story--that the personality traits that lead to success are the same, regardless of the stripe of the pursuit--comes along gently. Once the connection's been made, he overlaps the voice of one participant over the work of another, and the resonances between all of them become more and more apparent.

Watching Morris come along as a filmmaker is a little like watching a favorite cousin come of age. This movie makes you want to cheer, not only for Morris, but for the cast of misfits he's put on film who've taken their lives and made something of them. These four men are workers. They're not managers, not victims of dumb luck. They're doing these jobs because they love them, and because they love them and work without pause, they've become successful. They're not geniuses. Like Morris, they've merely managed to focus. Morris shows us what a rare thing that is. Bravo.

In science, there is a property of any complex system, that more complexity and subtlety will result with each added component. This, in my opinion, was the subject of "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control." The parallels drawn between AI, societal mammals, commonality of life (the lion tamer) and art (topiary gardener) flesh out a world where the idea of "God" can well be reduced to a simple inherent property of existence. Mole rat societies are not so far from human societies; humans are not so different from animals; robots are not so different from animals; and each individual represents a unique degree of specialization that proves important to the greater society it exists in. I found this work elegant, subtle, and even-handed, not to mention completely unique in its structure and faith in the audience to decipher an individual meaning from the context provided. Each person interviewed is wholly engrossed in their craft, something for which no other human can be substituted, and that exuberance shines in their eyes. It's a strange ride that inspires wonder in trusting viewers, exactly the way that the experts' wonder has motivated their realization as truly unique humans.

Don't believe the folks who say this film is about the thin line between genius and madness. That may be part of it, but it's far from what's important here. The real loot here is FC&OOC's exploration of the "other", and our attempts to understand, shape and control it. Humans have a fascination with the nature of life and intelligence--whether it comes in the form of wild animals, plants in a garden or robots developing in a lab--and the ways we approach these things reveal as much about subject as object. This film does a beautiful job of highlighting the mystery inherent in living and/or intelligent things, evoking the awe we feel when we regard them, and the questions that arise when we attempt to study, cultivate, contain or "tame" them.