Need for Speed

First Hit:  The cars were cool and fun to watch.

The story line was lackluster – except for the excitement Monarch (Michael Keaton) brought with his fervor for promoting his annual race. How we get there to this race is supposed to be a dramatic story that we’re interested in.

But, most of the acting and scenes are simply a bunch of clichés strung together. Small town guy Toby Marshall (Aaron Paul) who comes from a racing family is going to lose the garage his father left him because... . And that question is left open and unanswered.

He probably put himself in this predicament because it appears to the audience he likes hanging with his friends working only on stuff he likes to work on - race cars. And because of this the business is going under with no real effort to change his business model. So they do a Hail-Mary pass by fixing a rare Carol Shelby car that was never finished and owned by Dino (Dominic Cooper).

The plot twist is that this arch enemy (who also stole his girlfriend) is the person offering him this opportunity. Interesting thing is that they created the illusion that this was an unfinished Carroll Shelby car which we know couldn’t have a body because Shelby died many, many years ago. But because Ford is promoting their new 50 year old Mustang model in the film this is the draw.

Yup, we got a new Mustang body on a Carol Shelby chassis and engine designs. He fixes up the Mustang, gets pulled into a street race and loses his best friend in the process. For revenge he gets into the cross country street race that involves "winner takes all" (cars that is). The race is orchestrated by Monarch.

The cars: A Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, Koenigsegg Agera R, Bugatti Veyron Super Sports, Saleen S7, GTA Spano, and a McLaren P1. Of course the hero wins and gets basically nothing because the cars get destroyed in the film, but all’s right with the world because he settles a debt, and gets a new girlfriend Julia (Imogen Poots).

The cars were the stars – loved seeing them and wanted to drive them all. Paul was OK as the quiet type hero who does his talking through driving. Cooper was good as the guy who didn’t care much about how his actions hurt people. Keaton was great – the guy still brings so much energy to every role his does. My favorite today is still is role as Beetlejuice. Poots was really enjoyable and I enjoyed her role as it progressed in the film. George Gatins wrote a predictable script. Scott Waugh directed this and I thought it might have been better with less police interference and more open-street driving to see each car’s ability to perform because it was all about the cars.

Overall:  Just wanted more cars and less people.

Dead Man Down

First Hit:  I was pleasantly surprised that the story was different than I thought it would be – it was about revenge and maybe revenge not being the; be all end all.

Alphonse (Terrence Howard) is having his organization being picked apart, person by person. He’s being sent clues of small square sections of a larger picture.

The picture shows who's doing the killing. Part of his crew of people, who take over buildings and get rid of people who try to hang on in the building, is Victor (Colin Farrell). The crew forces people out of buildings and re-rents them for higher rent.

Although Victor seems engaged with the group, he has other things going on but has gained Alphonse’s trust. From his apartment he can view another section of the building that has a resident to whom we waves at from time to time.

This resident (Beatrice played by Noomi Rapace) convinces him to go out with her one evening and she tells him she wants him to kill the guy who drove into her car which caused massive facial scars. She wants revenge. But why would he do this? She has a film of Victor killing someone and is it using blackmail.

As the film unfolds we learn more about Victor and why he’s doing what he’s doing and his ultimate plan.

Farrell is, as usual, very strong as the troubled, focused man and here he wants revenge. Howard is very good as the frightened but powerful leader of a bunch of thugs. Rapace is phenomenal as the damaged woman who slowly is letting herself care. I loved how the subtle movements in her face brought forth such a plethora of feelings and emotions. Dominic Cooper was strong as Farrell’s thug friend. Isabelle Huppert was wonderful as Valentine, Rapace’s mother.

Overall: Being pleasantly surprised was good and overall the film delivered a satisfying result.

An Education

First Hit: At times the acting was good but not by the main characters and the story was not very believable.

Carey Mulligan was 23 when she made this film. Her character, Jenny, is 16 and this is immediately noticeable especially when she is in scenes around other real 16 and 17 year old people. These scenes came early in the film and therefore the pallor of this knowledge diminished the intent and believability of the story.

The film was shot in England and the 1960s. Her father Jack (played by Ralph Molina) is a very conservative man who has plans for his daughter. And as much as he wants to control her, his focus is to have her go to Oxford so that she can have freedom to live a more full life than he is living.

Her mother Marjorie (played by Cara Seymour) is a dutiful, stay at home wife who follows in her husband’s footsteps. One day Jenny, while it is raining buckets, is picked up and given a ride home by David (played by Peter Sarsgaard).

David is a lot older than Jenny but is charmed by her beauty and apparent sophistication and wants to date her. He convinces her parents that going to see a Ravel string concert and dinner afterward is a safe venture with him.

Their relationship grows and becomes cemented when she accepts that David and his counterpart Danny (played by Dominic Cooper) are thieves and make their living through dubious ways. But Jenny is in love and when David asks for her hand in marriage she accepts but then learns he’s not really available.

Mulligan was obviously too old for the part, although during the first nightclub scene, she held both the amazement as a young person out of her element and creating a nervous sophistication which is one reason why David likes her. The best acting was by Molina as her father. Lone Scherfig was the director and don’t think he created an interesting enough story.

Overall: This was a mediocre film, using an old story line, and added nothing to make it very engaging or interesting.