SPEED
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1994 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton,
Jeff Daniels.
Screenplay: Graham Yost.
Director: Jan DeBont.
Since the dawn of time, three Great Questions have defied the greatest minds: Is there a God? Is there existence after death? And how does Keanu Reeves continue to get work as an actor? All right, that might be a slight exaggeration; I have some ideas about that life after death thing. Reeves remains a mystery, a physically striking but mush-mouthed thespian who has been cast by Coppola, Bertolucci and Branagh. A post-BILL AND TED star-making vehicle has eluded him, however--until now. Arriving with more buzz than a swarm of killer bees is SPEED, and you can believe the hype. Thrilling and relentless to a fault, SPEED seems destined to score big box office and make Reeves a very hot property.
Reeves plays Jack Traven, a risk-taking member of the L.A.P.D.'s anti-terrorist unit. In the film's sensational prologue, Jack and his partner (Jeff Daniels) foil a bomber (Dennis Hopper) holding an elevator full of people hostage. Jack thinks the bomber is dead, but he returns, still seeking his $3.7 million but now with a score to settle as well. The bomber tells Jack that a city bus has been rigged to blow if it drops below 50 miles per hour, and that any attempt to evacuate the passengers will also lead to the destruction of the bus. Jack manages to get on board the bus, searching for a way to defuse the bomb and helping the passenger (Sandra Bullock) who has taken over for the incapacitated bus driver to keep them all alive and speeding.
As high concepts go, SPEED would have been difficult to screw up completely. Where I had my doubts was regarding the ability to keep things varied and interesting; there are only so many ways a bus can crash through guardrails and other cars. But astonishingly, SPEED continues to come up with new and interesting predicaments just when you think there can't be anywhere else for it to go. Screenwriter Graham Yost and director Jan DeBont almost give themselves too tough an act to follow by opening with the elevator rescue, a stunningly staged sequence that will leave you breathless before you're even out of popcorn. Once the action hits the road, the set pieces come fast, furious and rarely derivative. The location moves from crowded freeways to open spaces, each new environment providing new challenges. There is even that rarity of rarities, a moment that inspires a collective audible gasp, followed closely by relieved laughter. The term "edge of your seat" is thrown around a lot, but that is exactly where I spent the majority of SPEED's two hour running time.
Still, there is the Keanu question, and the fortunate answer is that Jack Traven is the perfect role for Reeves. He is asked to do little more than set his jaw and look good in a tight T-shirt, and he's good at both. The taciturn Traven is a switch from the Willis/ Schwarzenegger school of one-liner heroism, and something of a welcome one at that. With Reeves maintaining a poker face, the required tension release falls to the supporting cast. Sandra Bullock, so annoying as Stallone's partner in DEMOLITION MAN, is extremely appealing as driver/passenger Annie, managing to combine strength and emotion in a surprisingly seamless performance. Dennis Hopper as a psycho killer is no stretch, but he plays it with panache, and Alan Ruck (best known as FERRIS BUELLER's buddy Cameron) has a couple of good moments as a tourist on the bus. The performances are better than one might expect from a film like SPEED, and from Keanu Reeves in particular.
If there is a fault to be found with SPEED, it's that it really doesn't know when enough is enough. The bus's physics defying leap over a stretch of incomplete freeway is more comically absurd than exciting, and almost lost me. Once the bus-based plot is over, there's still another fifteen minutes to go, and perhaps out of some sense of houw an action film has to end there is a mano-a-mano between Reeves and Hopper aboard a commuter train. At that point, yet another set of improbable crises becomes overkill. And ironically, it may have eliminated one possible plot for the sequel. Don't be surprised if there is one; SPEED is 1994's THE FUGITIVE, and then some.
Summer's first thrill ride is here. Buckle up.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 exploding buses: 9.
-- Scott Renshaw Stanford University Office of the General Counsel
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