FAST & FURIOUS
HEADLINE: ** Sidetracked Redemption **
Title: FAST & FURIOUS
Quality: * * * * Acceptability: -2
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: LLL
Violence: VV
Sex: SS
Nudity: N
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: April 3, 2009
TIME: 107 minutes
STARRING: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso, and Gal Gadot
DIRECTOR: Justin Lyn
PRODUCERS: Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel and Michael Fottrell
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Amanda Lewis and Samantha Vincent
WRITER: Chris Morgan
BASED ON THE NOVEL/PLAY BY: N/A
DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures/General Electric
CONTENT: (PaPa, CC, BB, FRFR, RoRo, HoHo, Ab, LLL, VV, SS, N, AA, DD, MM) Strong mixed pagan worldview with strong Christian, moral elements (including praying) but with pagan, antinomian lawlessness at times where people make up their own codes of behavior and ending on a note of strong Romantic rebellion which also runs through other parts of the movie, plus depicted homosexual behavior includes shots of women making out in at least three parties (one of which is a private party between a criminal and three women, and, despite the positive references to Jesus and Christianity, there is an anti-Catholic scene where a priest blesses an evil criminal after the criminal gives the priest some money for the Catholic Church to make up for his sins, but the protagonist (who has some implied Christian faith) comes in after the priest leaves the criminal alone at the altar and tells the criminal, who killed the protagonist's girlfriend, "You're not forgiven"; about 25 obscenities (including one "f" word and some "s" words), two strong profanities and two light profanities; strong intense action violence includes dangerous car chases, fighting, a couple gunfights, FBI agent throws himself and criminal off low roof onto vehicle while they fight, car crashes, car crashes into obstacles squishing people, car runs into wall and explodes, one or two other explosions, implied pointblank murder shooting, heist of gas tanker results in much daring do and tanker eventually tumbles off cliff and explodes with no one in it; strong sexual content includes several scenes of minor women characters kissing other women during parties and light sexual content includes implied fornication between two couples, kissing and suggesting dancing by young women; upper male nudity, female cleavage and women at parties show their midriffs; alcohol use and drunken parties; smoking and movie is about bringing a drug gang to justice; and, stealing, hijacking, rebellion, living by a personal code rather than God's laws, and evading border patrol, not all of which is always rebuked.
GENRE: Crime Thriller
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults
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Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman/CEO, General Electric
Jeff Zucker, President/CEO, NBC Universal
Ron Meyer, President/COO, Universal Studios
Marc Shmuger, Chairman
David Linde, Co-Chairman
Universal Pictures
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608-1085
Phone: (818) 777-1000
Web Page: www.universalstudios.com
SUMMARY: FAST & FURIOUS reunites Vin Diesel and Paul Walker as an outlaw and an FBI agent infiltrating a drug gang in Los Angeles that murdered the outlaw's girlfriend. FAST & FURIOUS is a high-octane, superior crime thriller with strong moral elements and positive Christian references, but moviegoers should exercise extreme caution due to its foul language, several wild party scenes with homosexual references, and unresolved elements of rebellion and lawlessness.
IN BRIEF:
FAST & FURIOUS reunites Vin Diesel and Paul Walker as an outlaw and an FBI agent infiltrating a drug gang in Los Angeles. The gang is using street racing to move its drugs. As Dom Toretto, Diesel wants revenge against the gang for murdering his girlfriend. As Brian O'Conner, Walker is trying to find out the identity of the mysterious drug lord behind the gang. Despite Dom's differences with Brian, who dated Dom's sister in the past, Dom decides the right thing to do is help Brian bring the drug lord to justice. What follows is a high-octane crime thriller with a couple surprising twists along the way.
FAST & FURIOUS is the best of the movies in this franchise, including the original. It delivers spectacular thrills, a dramatic storyline, and some good acting. The movie contains strong moral elements and even overt Christian references. These positive elements are tainted, however, by plenty of foul language, several party scenes showing women kissing other women, and unresolved elements of rebellion and lawlessness. Moviegoers should exercise extreme caution. This is not a movie for children. For reviews of more acceptable movies, visit movieguide.org.
