Rating: PG
Genre:
Culture & Society
Release Date: 09/24/2002
Dubbed: English
Sound: DS
Run Time: 82 min
Flags: Questionable for Children, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
Innovative documentary filmmaker
Errol Morris often finds a startling surreal edge in the midst of reality, seeking unique subjects, and discovering humor and pathos in odd, off-the-beaten-path locales. After
Morris attracted attention with his memorable look at pet owners and pet cemeteries in Gates of Heaven (1978), he traveled into a backwash of quirky humor by filming Floridians in
Vernon, Florida (1981). His controversial
The Thin Blue Line (1988) helped free the innocent Randall Adams from prison.
Morris ventured into drama with
The Dark Wind (1991), and he also made a biographical profile of
Stephen Hawking,
A Brief History of Time (1992). Now
Morris returns with a film he described as "four versions of the myth of Sisyphus." Four eccentrics talk about their seemingly diverse lives, interests, and offbeat occupations: Lion tamer Dave Hoover, following paths trod by his hero
Clyde Beatty, offers some curious theories about wild animal thought processes; topiary gardener George Mendo clips hedges to create giraffes, bears, and other creatures; mole-rat specialist Ray Mendez researches the insect-like behavior of these hairless, buck-toothed mammals; robotics scientist Rodney Brooks assembles autonomous robots.
Morris finds thematic connections relating the four. While Hoover and Mendo provide footnotes on the fading American scene, Mendez and Brooks look to the future. Contrasting viewpoints are edited into an essay on existence and the human condition, incorporating
Morris' reflection on his recently departed parents.
Morris and cinematographer
Bob Richardson employed a variety of film formats -- black-and-white, color, 35mm, Super-8, and 16mm.
~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Not the study of loose women or binge drug users one might expect from the title,
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control is an engaging, if meandering, take on four quirky men whose unconventional jobs are their lives. Their earnest devotion is priceless, and acclaimed documentarist
Errol Morris captures them at work with all manner of loving camerawork. Especially ethereal in its beauty are the shots of
George Mendo sculpting the shrubs with his hedge clippers, which covers for the fact that he's the most reticent of the four subjects. The others more than make up for it with their eager, enlightening job descriptions, which the images flesh out expertly. Even at a scant 80 minutes, however, the film feels a little long because of its lack of forward momentum.
Morris intercuts the scenes with great fluidity, but without identifiable purpose.
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control also feels a little self-important when it tries too hard to suggest a connection between the four jobs and a framing device of circus footage, which looks nice but doesn't seem to amplify the themes. Still, these are minor quibbles; the dominant impression of
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control is of stylish
documentary filmmaking that reflects outside-the-box thinking. One can sense the kinship
Morris feels for his subjects, since he himself is at the top of his own unique craft.
~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
;)
