A lighthearted tale about a gang of bank robbers who fall out and split up. The brains of the gang is a boy who, with his father, successfully continue their crime spree. Annoyed at this, Li... Read allA lighthearted tale about a gang of bank robbers who fall out and split up. The brains of the gang is a boy who, with his father, successfully continue their crime spree. Annoyed at this, Lilly and her loyal and stupid companion, decide to kidnap the boy, Nelson, and force him to... Read allA lighthearted tale about a gang of bank robbers who fall out and split up. The brains of the gang is a boy who, with his father, successfully continue their crime spree. Annoyed at this, Lilly and her loyal and stupid companion, decide to kidnap the boy, Nelson, and force him to work for them.
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Haim got pigeonholed into these often weird slapstick heavy movies. He does handle slapstick well so no problem there.
As long as you know you're getting a Haim slapstick movie, it's not bad.
But there are script and production problems here. The bridge across the canyon sequence (with Haim in a dress) is such a bizarre set piece, it feels like a hallucination. Beyond that, the gag where the two leads are falling goes on and on and on. It starts to feel like Bill and Ted or the like and quite out of place.
The final action sequence also somehow isn't as funny as it's trying to be. Perhaps because it feels like Haim's character really is in peril.
In fairness, the stunts and action sequences - mostly chase scenes - are done very well, and duly entertaining. Though we're treated to some tropes and predictable story beats, there are dashes of cleverness scattered throughout. Relegated to a small supporting role, it's nonetheless fun to watch Cynthia Rothrock turn up the playful smarm as conniving criminal conspirator Lilly, and there's minor gleeful energy in seeing her play opposite Ken Lerner as Lilly's notably less witty partner, Tony. Yes, Rothrock's martial arts skills are employed only to the same purposefully gauche ends, but that's no major fault. 'Fast getaway' will never be remembered for world-class acting, but the cast at large do a good job of embracing the spirit of the modest (if too often juvenile) romp.
Even bearing in mind the gawky, deliberate flavors that the film maintains, James Dixon's screenplay is a little overbearing at points. Even putting aside noted strains of sexism, the dialogue and scene writing is outright crude in some instances (boys will be boys, dontcha know, hyuk hyuk). The narrative is pretty unremarkable, not especially feeling any different from a slew of similar titles we've all seen at one time or another, and the same is true of the characters as written. The feature's technical craft, or rounding details like costume design, hair and makeup, and so on, are done well such as they are, but don't specifically inspire. 'Fast getaway' mostly occupies a familiar and well populated cinematic space, and it's hard for much about it to stand out.
Still, though definitely flawed, I can't say I didn't have a good time. The action is concretely ramped up at the climax, lending to a satisfying air of tension and suspense. Marcia Strassman lends a measure of welcome sincerity in her supporting role as Lorraine. All in all, I think my expectations were met rather squarely, if not in the ways I anticipated. It's nothing anyone ever needs to go out of their way to see, but if you're a particular fan of someone in the cast it's passable enough. Moreover, this is the type of picture to put on if you want something amusing but unsophisticated to help pass the time. I can't fathom any reason for 'Fast getaway' to earn a notably strong recommendation, but it's good enough as it is.
Fast Getaway is the light-comedy adventures of a team of father-and-son bankrobbers. After a disagreement among their gang of four which included a clueless doofus and a black belt blonde, Nelson (Corey Haim) and his dad decide to rob banks alone. Only Nelson's dad expects it to be temporary, wanting his son to go legit so he can end up in law school or business school (the man has no clear idea of his expectations as to which graduate school track he expects his son to take other than whatever will allow an easy transition into white collar crime) much to the chagrin of Nelson, who loves the life of easy money. But, the team are not as invincible as they think they are when they're busted for robbing a bank in a squat town in Utah around the same time a stranger to the past enters their lives as does their scheming former partners.
It has all the depth of the notorious 'Cool as Ice' "action" film (ranked as one of the worst 100 movies on IMDb), and about as much of the same cheesy writing. I particularly enjoy the scene in which Nelson and dear old dad, trying to escape from the police by anchoring over a bridge, plunge thousands of feet straight down into shallow, rocky rapids and live to tell the tale...completely unscathed, mind you. Or, the finale in which brave Nelson is being dragged from a truck while holding onto a chain link fence that neither eletrocutes him or gets too hot to hold as it is scraped across the pavement for miles. Nor, does it flip with the sharp turns of the truck and the lack of support by his weight. And, I especially cringe at Corey Haim's half-concocted Italian-American accent that reared itself during random moments, not to mention his terrible array of slang, especially in many of the references to women.
Recommended for anyone who can watch any number of Corey Haim's early 90s disasters and actually find them enjoyable.
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie was considered for a wide theatrical release. Prior to committing this, Cinetel Films and New Line Cinema performed a market test by airing promos for the film in Iowa, including the official trailer narrated by Corey Haim. The response was lackluster and the movie was released largely direct-to-video instead.
- GoofsWhile Nelson and Tony are arguing over the money in the barn, their lips never move.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Obscurus Lupa Presents: Fast Getaway (2011)
Details
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1