Fast Money DVD (1995) (1 Disc) (UK)

Fast Money starring Yancy Butler, & Matt McCoy is my favourite road movie of all time. I dont know who was responsible for the pairing of Butler & McCoy but they are fastastic together. Yancy Bulter plays Francesca a car thief, & Matt McCoy a naive but upright newspaper reporter.

The casting of Francesca is a role that Yancy Butler was born to play; she is a strong unscrupulous young woman who knows what she wants from life, & regularly walks the thin red line to achieve her aims. She leaves nobody in any doubt on her position & seems to forever argue her justifications for her actions. However, there is also another side to her personality, a softer side, that she spends a lot of her time trying to conceal. They say opposites attract & Matt McCoys character couldnt be more so, & it is this blend that helps to spur the movie along.

The story unfolds when Francesca decides to leave town after a series of car thefts. While boarding a flight she bumps into Jack, who is forced to do a Karaoke story after a botched investigative report. As a cover, Francesca pretends to be his wife. On reaching their destination, Jack asks Francesca to hire a car, however unknown to him she decides to nick one instead. It is only when she finally opens the boot of the stolen car that she discovers a briefcase of money, $2.7 million in fact. Unaware she has accidently intercepted a pickup car owned by the mob, she tries to convince Jack that the money is really hers, & its from here the movie takes off.

The inter reaction between the two leads is at times engrossing, sad, & funny, but they do have competition in John Ashton & Trevor Goddard who play the two baddies. Ashton & Goddard seem to be having a ball with their roles. Goddard, who plays a loudmouth Brit working for the mob, really lives the part, & is at times, sinister, outrageous, & funny. He clearly bases his character on the football hooligan we love to hate, even down to the walk, & that awful Here We Go chant. Goddard, who you will love or hate, plays him with extreme accuracy, & nearly steals the show. The movie is also sprinkled with a number of diverse character actors such as Andy Romano of Under Siege fame & Jacob Witkin.

You always know a good film when it has a great opening & Fast Money doesnt disappoint. There are some terrific wide-angle shots underpinned by Tony Riparettis vibriant music score. However it is not until halfway during the film that Riparetti introduces a wonderful catchy guitar riff that will have you humming along. It reminded me of some of Ennio Morricones earlier work. In fact the whole film written by its director Alexander Wright has an Italian Western feel to it, with the same tongue in cheek black humour, & violent comic strip gunplay. On another level its also not afraid to poke fun at itself, or any other film of the same genre, & I agree with the viewer from England, its ending is highly explosive & downright brilliant.

This DVD does not have any extras except the main actors film biogs. As for the movie itself, it looks particular good on the latest large Plasma & LCD TVs, as it fills the entire screen & is not restricted by the usual widescreen black bands as seen on most DVDs of late. If you like gangter films, & are prepared to leave your brain at the ticket entrance, you will be highly entertained by this little B movie. It deserves to be a cult favourite.

Alex Wright is a professional wrestler who was born in Nuremberg, Germany. He wrestled professionally in Germany & Japan before signing with WCW in 1994. Starting out as a face but quickly turning heel, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Title in 1997 from Chris Jericho & the Television Title later that same year. In 1998 he paired with Disco Inferno to form a moderately successful tag team. In 1999, after an absence, he became known as Berlyn; this gimmick served him well until 2000 when he re-paired with Disco Inferno to form The Boogie Knights. Disco was injured, however & when WCW staged the Millennium Final show in Germany, Wright was paired with General Rection & the team won the tag-team title belt. Wright fell out of the spotlight in 2001 & has not appeared on American television since then. Posters Of The Shipment

Editors Choice: The Shipment, Fast Money, View DVDology