One Fast Move Movie Review: A biker flick that doesn’t sustain momentum

Early on in One Fast Move, biker Wes Neal (KJ Apa, unrecognisable from his Riverdale days), is just about to leave prison, and an officer briefs him about the discharge process. He responds dryly: “When can I get my bike back?” It sets the tone for a racy sports thriller about bikes and bad men.

However, the first race doesn't even appear until halfway through the film. We first meet veteran biker Dean Miller (Eric Dane), Neal’s biological father, who left him as a child. This is a potentially melodramatic premise, but One Fast Move steers clear of any feelings. Neal goes to Dean not because he wants a father but rather to get his life back together through motorsport. Dean doesn’t have any sense of guilt and agrees to train Neal only because he is a good biker.

What keeps them together is not their relationship but rather a shared passion for bikes. In the film’s best portion, they are just two men biking—and the emotional nuances of the father-son relationship don’t matter. Bring in another father figure, Abel (Edward James Olmos, exuding wise grandpa energy), and we get many funny one-liners. For example, Dean looks at Abel and says, "He hasn’t been laid since Reagan was president”, to which Abel responds, “He hasn’t won a race since Bush was president, and I’m talking about the first one.” Basic dialogues, but effective still. The romantic angle (with Maia Reficco playing Camila), albeit needless, is handled well too. Camila gets nice little touches, like not bringing her son near Neal after seeing him get violent once, or being amused every time a bike whizzes past, instead of just cheering for Neal.

Director: Kelly Blatz

Cast: Eric Dane, KJ Apa, Edward James Olmos, Maia Reficco

Streamer: Prime Video

KJ Apa does well in the limited scope his role has, and Eric Dane steals the show as Dane. The actor perfectly embodies the self-absorbed Dane, an ageing biker who revels in his own sense of inflated fame. The film sets itself up rather interestingly, with the characters themselves brushing aside deeply personal situations. Biking is all that seems to matter. It is only after Neal wins his first race that Dean calls him his son.

These are cold, emotionless men, but once the novelty wears off, things become tiresome. The plot runs into cliched sports drama territory. The stunts are ordinary at best, and we get one father-son angle after another. Every character in the film has some form of the ‘Daddy Issue’. The decision to stray away from drama works as long as the characters are just chatting and biking. But once the breakdowns and fights start happening, One Fast Move turns stale.

It is only in the climax that we get a mildly surprising twist. We expect a father-son reconciliation here, but the film offers a smile-worthy moment, in tune with Dean’s character. One Fast Move needed more such moments. The film is a bit like riding a bike that is great with off-roading, but crashes immediately when it hits the road.