The Fast and the Furious

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Fast and the Furious is an adrenaline-injected summer flick about car racing gangs in Los Angeles. Sounds like the territory of producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Gone in 60 Seconds, Pearl Harbor). But Bruckheimer's films are all extravagance and polish—as if the characters, dialogue, and action scenes could have been plotted by expensive software. In contrast, The Fast and the Furious sports a macho, brash quality about its over-the-top use of technology, sexiness, and speed. It comes off as a little sloppy but goes fast enough that the clichés blur into good mindless fun.

Girlfight star Michelle Rodriguez returns to the big screen as Letty. Her boyfriend Dominic (Vin Diesel) heads a pack of young velocity addicts who hold illegal auto races in L.A.'s industrial outskirts. The movie opens with a fantastic truck heist, which undercover cop Brian (a limp Paul Walker) must investigate by working his way into Dominic's domain. The high speed daredevilry is what The Fast and the Furious is really about, and it consistently provides flashy, edge-of-your-seat fun.