Fast and Dumb

I want to blame This Island Rod for making us watch Need for Speed (2014), but let's face it, we would have watched anyway. We're suckers for this stuff.

Let's see if I can recount the setup: Two street racers grow up in a small Michigan town. One gets rich, the other gets caught. Aaron Paul, the one who does jail time, wants revenge on nemesis Dominic Cooper when he gets out. The plan is to take the hottest Shelby ever designed and enter it in an underground race in California. So first they have to get the band back together, then cross the country, then win the race. Clear?

The only two things to care about are: the racing, and the stuff between the racing. The racing was fun - mostly practical effects that look like CGI, not CGI. That's better, I suppose. I thought the Shelby looked pretty hokey, but I'm a Chevy/GM guy. There was a yellow GTO in one of the first races that I liked a lot, but got shut down fast. Most of the cars are modern Eurotrash.

The stuff in between the races is pretty forgettable. There's a romantic triangle between the two ex-friends, I guess, but it's pretty by the books. Imogen Poots plays a posh dolly who right-seats for Paul, and has to prove her racing cred.

But the best part is Rami Malek, who quits his day job in the funnest way possible - takes all his clothes off in the office and kisses his office crush. He knows he can't go back to that job.

The big race takes place in Mendocino, ending the Mendocino lighthouse (or stand-in). Nice scenery, and a good follow-up to our viewing of The Fog (and The Birds) for California North Coast fun.