Summary
Motorcycle racing, a broken father-son relationship, and a romance with a waitress. What more could you ask for?
You can already tell what you are in for in the first few minutes of One Fast Move. It is a broody drama movie about motorcycle racing with a boy meets girl set-up that has an air of Step Up. And I’m not complaining at all. I’m a sucker for these movies. They sit comfortably well on streaming services.
Meet Wes (played by K.J. Apa), a young, destitute man leaving military prison and desperate to get a hold of his life. And so, he takes a personal risk. He heads to a race track and meets his father, Dean (Eric Dane), who abandoned him as a child. The benefit of meeting his father is that he’s a racer and can show him the ropes to kickstart a career. One Fast Move also introduces a romantic plot — Wes meets waitress Camila (Maia Reficco), who is burdened with her problems as a single mother.
From the premise, it’s easy to assess that this movie will be complicated. The appalling nature of how Dean conducts himself is equivalent to a “man-child.” He catches up with his son at a bar while rizzing on two women, arrogantly believing that his son will be impressed with his degenerate lifestyle.
And that’s the risk in One Fast Move. How can a broken man find a path in life while reconnecting with his broken father? How can he justify a healthy relationship with a good woman if she’s deemed a distraction to his racing and purpose? Toxic parents often compete with their children by living their lives vicariously through them, and there’s an element of that in this story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. OK, it’s generic from a story perspective, but I was impressed with the track shots. An effort was made to make the racing as authentic as possible. I’m more of a Formula 1 fan, but I could tell that the actors were given a script that was indicative of track practice, especially when Dean is teaching his son how to navigate the tarmac.
The character Wes works, too. Despite his flaws, you root for him. He gives off this “bad boy trying to make things right” vibe, which only emphasizes why an attractive woman like Camila would want him. She sees his potential rather than his past. She wants him to be a certain man, but as the audience, you can see what he may become through his father.
One Fast Move navigates the broken home theory well. Statistically, children without a father are more likely to be disadvantaged as they grow older in many aspects of their lives, and they are more likely to obtain a criminal record. The brokenness of Wes shines through. He understands his father cannot be a father, but he needs him. That mental struggle is apparent, though I feel the movie could have hammered it home a little more. But, to conclude my thoughts, One Fast Move is an easy pick for a popcorn movie night. There’s enough good drama and substance to justify the genericness. Plus, the motorcycle racing angle feels genuinely authentic. In fact, it would have benefited from more story here in terms of Wes’s career.
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