This is the second of two movies I watched with my movie theatre-working friend today (The first was Tangled). I was partly hesitant to watch what I thought was going to be an exploitative revenge flick starring a former wrestler once known as The Rock. To my pleasant surprise, it was a little more than that though there was the requisite shootings that earned this an R-rating though not a hard one like that for The Expendables last August. In the leading role, Dwayne Johnson moves well and handles what dialogue he has adequately well. And co-star Billy Bob Thornton does his usual fine turn as the about-to-retire cop coming after him. Although the story is handled seriously enough, I had an "MST3K" moment when another cop played by Carla Gugino asks "Haven't I seen this guy before?" when looking at Johnson's surveillance tape and I replied back to the screen "Yeah, in Race to Witch Mountain!" (I have to admit here that I actually said "Escape" before my friend corrected me.) And when "Lost" veteran Maggie Grace appeared on screen, this same friend thought she was in Son-in-Law with Pauly Shore possibly mistaking her for the role Gugino played there. (I corrected him but I don't know if he got it) By the way, Ms. Grace seems here mostly for eye candy though she appearing in a black bikini is the closest to skin showing here. Another star from the TV show I just mentioned, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, has a great scene with Dwayne as a preacher who was previously part of the gang that had his brother killed asking for forgiveness and willing to forgive him as well. Not every subplot made sense or seemed necessary, but it was a mostly enjoyably diverting 90 or so minutes that made me admire the way director George Tillman, Jr.-previously known for Soul Food and Men of Honor-handled the whole thing. So on that note, Faster is worth a look.
