FAST, CHEAP & OUT OF CONTROL ** (out of four)
documentary, directed by Errol Morris
Considered a leading documentarian, Morris's fifth non-fiction feature is filled with rich characters and a unique-ness that we've come to expect from the director of films as diverse as The Thin Blue Line and Vernon, Florida.
In Fast, Cheap... Morris links the stories of a lion tamer, a topiary gardener, a naked mole- rat expert, and a scientist who invents robots. Each of these people is very interesting, particularly the lion tamer, who is revealed to have an obsession for B-movie star and circus performer Clyde Beatty. Clips of Mr. Beatty's films, dispersed liberally throughout, are hysterically, Ed Wood-funny. But over the course of 82 minutes, Morris barely lets any of them speak. Instead we get endless montages, footage which visually equates each interviewee's occupation. While most of said footage is beautifully shot, by Oliver Stone's DP Robert Richardson, it's all very self-indulgent and blunt. Morris insists on spelling out his ideas, as if he doesn't trust his own (admittedly wobbly) hypotheses. The music, by Caleb Sampson, doesn't help matters: all tinker-y piano and goofy orchestrations, it would better accompany a Keystone Cops movie.
The title refers to a quote from the scientist, from a scene in which he envisions hundreds of small robots roaming the surface of planets instead of one lumbering explorer like the Mars probe.
The title more aptly refers to the picture itself, obviously not a good thing.
More new movies reviewed at: Film Freak Central: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7504
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