rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2006; aka The Ex
Directed by Jesse Peretz; produced by Anthony Bregman, Anne Carey, Ted Hope; written by David Guion, Michael Handelman
Starring Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Lucian Maisel, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Amy Adams
'Fast Track' is one of those comedies depending on tension delivered through uncomfortable situations, turning into comic relief. I am talking 'Meet the Parents' and 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' here. The film is uncomfortable, but it never gets really funny. It almost hurts to sit through it.
Leading man Tom Reilly is played by Zach Braff, from hit series 'Scrubs' and the terrific 'Garden State'. Here he shows his limits, unfortunately, because you really want to like this person. Together with his wife Sofia (Amanda Peet) and their just born baby he moves from New York City to small town in Ohio to accept a job offer from his father in law (Charles Grodin). There he meets the wheel-chaired Chip (Jason Bateman), who once slept with Sofia.
In his job Tom is surrounded by weird people, including his own father in law and Chip, who wants to make Tom's life a living hell. The only one who understands it is Tom himself, and every time he tries to prove this - or himself - things go terribly wrong. I was reminded of 'Meet the Parents' more than once, with one very important difference; that film made me laugh.
Comedies like this always end on a good note. Normally I do not mind the closing scenes where everything is turned around in an implausible way, since, well, how else could you do it, considering all things gone wrong during the course of the film. 'Fast Track' takes the most simple way out, and although it is honest and logical - the woman sees what the audience did all along - it is just too darn easy.
Too easy. That is how you sum up the events in this film. Too easy becomes predictable, and when that is not funny we are left without anything worth seeing, except, maybe, Jason Reitman and Charles Grodin with their performances, hardly fitting this film. Braff is great in 'Scrubs' and good in 'Garden State', written and directed by himself, but with 'Fast Track' he shows his limits as an actor. Maybe he should write a better part for himself again. I would be willing to give him another chance.