SPEED. Directed by Jan de Bont; written by Graham Yost; produced by Mark Gordon for Twentieth Century Fox. Starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock. Rated R.
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Well, I tried to find something wrong with Speed, something to knock it down to 4 stars, but I just couldn't do it. It's a movie with rather modest ambitions, and doesn't try to be anything more than it is. But in the field of action/thrillers (with side orders of romance) it's darn near perfect.
[Hindsight note: and it gets even better with repeated viewings, very unusual for a thriller.]
From the first harrowing sequence (you may not ride a high- rise elevator again for a while!) to the final credits, Speed is practically non-stop suspense, perfectly paced and carried by an excellent cast.
Whoever designed the movie's many impressive stunts deserves a lot of the credit for its success. But even the best stuntwork, by itself, can't make a movie as entertaining as this one is. You need to have a story that makes a least a little sense, and, above all, appealing actors who can make you believe, even when the story gets nonsensical. Speed passes on both counts.
With obvious similarity to the Lethal Weapon movies, we have a couple of cop buddies here, Jack (Reeves) being somewhat unconventional and Harry (Jeff Daniels) a steadier type. They're in the bomb squad and in the movie's first twenty minutes manage to foil a fiendishly clever bomb-for-ransom scheme.
The fiend behind the scheme is Hopper, who creates one of his best villains. He makes Jack play a deadly game as payback for spoiling his first plot, by putting a bomb on a city bus that will blow once the bus' speedometer dips below 50 mph. (Hence, the movie's title, although it could also apply to the frantic pace of the action.)
Reeves has been showing a lot of versatility lately (Much Ado About Nothing, Little Buddha) but he's hit the big time here for sure. Action heroes, when successful, command the biggest bucks from Hollywood these days. And Reeves is the best new one to come along in a while. He's strong, ultra-competent, irreverent and sexy, and that's a combination that's tough to beat. I wouldn't mind if he makes some more Speed-like movies, but I hope he keeps trying different things, too.
The by-play between Jack and Annie, (Bullock) the passenger who takes over driving the bus when the driver is shot, is handled perfectly as the plot progresses. It's never allowed to intrude upon the main action business, but Reeves and Bullock use acting skill and chemistry expertly. A couple of significant glances are enough to let us know exactly what's going on and what will eventually happen between them.
Not overly violent (just a couple of really gross scenes), but just about as exciting as a movie can get, Speed is perfect summer entertainment. Enjoy!
July 6, 1994