Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the long running Homework series. For those of you unfamiliar, each and every week without a major wrestling pay per view the hosts of the At Odds with Wrestling podcast assign each other something wrestling related to watch and then discuss on their Patreon. I watch along and add my own thoughts to the discussion. This week we watched the 2010 action movie starring The Rock, Faster. 

Homework assignments always contain spoilers so if, like me, you have never seen this movie, this is your warning that I will discuss the plot of the movie in depth and then give my own thoughts which will probably be deeper than most discussion about this film. 

The Rock plays Driver (most of these characters have names but there’s a simplicity to this movie that seems lazy at first but fits the atmosphere of what I believe the writer was inspired by) and we the audience meet him as he is about to be released from prison. Driver is a man of few words. He has done his time, he is ready to get out, and he’s not here for chit chat. Driver is released and starts running. He has some idea that the nearest town is in a certain direction and we get the feeling this is a long hike. While sometimes the size of the Rock makes no sense for the character, it is very conceivable that he has spent X amount of years in prison building his body and improving his cardio. Rock runs into a junkyard and finds a flashy car, cool leather coat, keys on the tire, a gun under the seat, and a folder full of “suspect information”. There are many questions as the movie opens, all of which are answered along the way. At this moment I’m wondering if this car is why he was in jail, how long has it been here, and why did no one find it? More on that in a bit. 

Driver drives up to an office building and walks in with blinders on to anything else around him. He walks right up to a cubicle and shoots the man occupying it in the head then leaves. I’m writing “WTF” in my notes and wondering if Rock is the good guy in this movie. 

Billy Bob Thornton debuts as “Cop” and is a heroin addict. Now I see the conflict, because the Rock might have killed someone for a noble reason but there isn’t a noble reason to be a junkie. Or so society has taught me. 

Driver shows up to what I’m going to assume is the headquarters of the man who had the car and all contents ready for him. This man wants to extort some more money out of the Rock for more information, and has a big scary Samoan bodyguard. A bodyguard who sees the Rock’s tattoo and immediately leaves the building. He refuses to mess with a ghost. So, Driver is a ghost and has some sort of legacy? Interesting. 

Day 2. 

These guys are having busy days. Some people just pack more into 24 hours than others. We are now introduced to Killer, or as I started to refer to him in my notes as more and more killing happen, Beautiful Killer. We get some of his back story via shots of his home decor. Killer was born with some sort of genetic defect in his legs and the surgical scars he still bares are shown multiple times. He appears to be some sort of tech bro that sold a start up for a lot of money and now doesn’t have to work. He is driven to be the best and clearly spends a lot of time on perfection. His home, his body, his girlfriend. He needs to have everything be the best, and that means conquering every challenge. He has “beaten” yoga. Which seems an absurd line but reveals a lot of what makes his character tick. Even the photos of him as a child during physical therapy reveals a person who does not forget where he came from as he pushes himself forward. I wonder how many companies he has created and sold because there are a lot of framed dollar bills on his walls. More on that later. 

BK is also a contract killer. He beat every other challenge and now he wants to be the best assassin too. I guess there’s only so much advancement in the corporate world and then some people have to switch careers. There’s fake IDs and other forms, lots of cars, lots of guns, and the hot girlfriend helps him prep. These two could be their own movie. 

Cop – Billy Bob – has forced himself onto this cubicle murder case and Lady Cop (Carla Gugino) isn’t happy about it. She’s the audience. Giving us back story and exposition, filling us in where needed, and later in the movie she puts two and two together moments after the viewer does. 

We find out that Rock was the Driver for the getaway vehicle when his brother and some friends robbed a bank. Another gang finds out and ambushes the brothers. Rock watches his brother murdered. One of the killers is recording the whole thing. None of the gang’s faces are seen on camera. Coincidentally, this VHS is found during a previous raid and Lady Cop happened to remember seeing it years ago. She now recognizes Driver and pieces the story together. Rock was sent to prison 10 years ago and now that he is free he’s going after the gang that murdered his brother. Rock knows who did it but because there are no faces on the video, the police are unaware of who the targets are. 

Speaking of targets, an old man is struggling to bring his groceries inside and a nice young lady helps him. He offers her a drink and she agrees only to be polite to this feeble old man. Who, it turns out isn’t so feeble. He drugged her drink and is about to record bad things happening. Oh, he’s the one who taped the killing of Rock’s brother. We see that his brother had his throat slit and despite an abundance of gun fire in this movie, the knife might come back. 

Rock shows up and shoots the old man before anything can happen to the girl, but BK has shown up too. They have a gun fight in the apartment building hall which is actually well done and not over the top. I especially liked that the bullets hitting the walls are kicking up so much sheet rock and/or plaster that it also creates dust clouds making seeing and breathing tougher. Rock leaves in the chaos and BK realizes he has a true challenge. 

Back to the VHS and we see that Driver was shot in the back of the head. The hospital marked him DOA, however the bullet actually missed his brain, exited out his cheek, and he obviously makes a full recovery. This is why people think they’ve seen a ghost, because he was presumed dead. 

Alright, all of that makes sense but the Rock has been in jail for the last ten years. Which means there was a trial and a conviction. Which means a newspaper article, TV news, something in theory would have covered this trial. Someone knows he’s alive – except for the people involved in his “murder” who one would assume would have a vested interest in this information. 

Cop (BBT) shows up and argues with his ex. He picks up his son for baseball. He’s definitely an absentee father but then blows off work to spend time with his son. Everything in his presentation so far leads us to believe there’s something wrong about him and he will most likely be our villain. Yet, here is a scene of great empathy in which he is trying to do right but has no idea how to do so. To paraphrase a line I believe I heard in the Thunderbolts movie, there are no good guys – there’s bad guys, and worse guys. 

BK proposes to his girlfriend. Again, is he a bad guy? He’s just doing his job. If BK had a dog too and the dog and his now fiancé are killed then he’s John Wick and we would all cheer him on. 

The Rock goes to visit a woman and is he about to kill her? No, this was his girlfriend before he went to prison. She’s moved on. She has a child with someone else. All of the women in this movie are damaged but trying to better themselves. The Rock’s killings have made the news and she knows what he’s doing and wishes him luck. 

BK and his fiancé get married. Just the two of them and a priest, no witnesses. Which makes sense for a contract killer. They go shooting guns afterwards. Couples that do things together, stay together. 

Billy Bob tries to get his girl back. Just one more thing he can’t quit. 

The Rock shows up to a strip club for his next target, and because there’s a bouncer searching everyone before they come in the door he has to leave the gun in the car. This also works to explain away the gun and leads into a knife fight against the guy who slit his brother’s throat. Karma. 

This is a quick no bullshit fight. There’s a bit of honor here as the killer makes sure the bathroom is clear before they get going. The Rock did brief training in “52 Blocks” which is a fighting style from west coast prisons. I can’t imagine we’ll see that in UFC. But watch this scene again with that knowledge, and it’s absolutely a fighting style based on how to disarm and fuck someone up quickly. Knife killer is stabbed by the Rock and while he’s bleeding out he asks the Rock to take his phone and call his son to say he’s sorry. This is a quick awkward call and reminds me of something else, but this movie does a good job of set up and homages. 

Back to BK, and back to his legs too. There’s a lot of emphasis on his legs and scars which makes me wonder if we have a Doctor Doom situation here. Despite all that he has, he still thinks of himself as a scarred up freak. BK tells his wife that he can’t quit, he’ll quit right after this, but Driver is such a challenge he can’t back down until this one is over. 

Billy Bob stays the night in his kid’s room. He and his ex are trying to be civil for the kid. She calls him out on his heroin use and takes it away from him. Swerve, she ends up using it. Billy Bob leaves his son’s room to get her through the ride. She drops the heaviest line from this movie, “I’m afraid we’re going to hell for what we did. We make our heaven and hell while we’re here alive. Every time we cause pain. Every time we cause suffering.” Damn. 

We’re at Day 4 and setting up a showdown. 

Lady Cop finds out both of the victims (that they are aware of so far) were informants. We also find out over the Rock’s car radio that the knife fight victim is still alive. Rock heads to the hospital, Billy Bob is already there, BK is on his way. The Rock shows up at the hospital and easily makes his way through. No one stops him. He easily finds the operating room, and just shoots stripper bouncer knife guy right on the table. Then leaves. 

There’s an author I follow online, Jason Pargin, who makes excellent pop culture points. Recently he asked his audience to take a look at every time the hero in a movie does something that they themselves can’t do. Not things like fly or shoot lasers. Things like drive a car backwards, easily find their way through a building they’ve never been in before, pick a lock. Things like that. While the Rock has no super powers the amount of stuff he does in this movie that you or I can’t do is vast. 

Back to the hospital, and Billy Bob is chasing after Driver. They have a shoot out in the basement of the building and the Rock gains the upper hand. He has Cop point blank but walks away. At this point, the Rock has a mission and will not shoot anyone who is not part of his list. Rock sees the badge and walks away. 

Rock heads to the car and picks up the phone again to call the son of his latest victim. The son says that he will find the Rock and kill him. This is what we want to see from Kill Bill 3. The cycle of vengeance. This kid has no idea what his father did. All he knows is a crazy man walked into a hospital and shot his dad in the middle of surgery. His revenge is just as justified as Driver’s. 

Rock and BK have a car chase after leaving the hospital. Rock wins out and shoots the tire of BK’s car, because again BK is not on the list. BK however does have a list of one and shoots at Driver, catching him in the neck. Driver takes off to the only place he can get medical assistance – home. 

Rock points a gun at an old woman and asks, “where’s the old man?” The old man has died in the last 10 years but mom is going to stitch him up. There is a ton of exposition here. Mom had an affair, and it’s obvious the Rock and his late brother don’t have the same father. There was lots of abuse over the years because of this. Probably what led Driver and his brother to crime. Rock thinks the old man hated him and set them up, but mom lays out a hard truth that even if he did hate the Rock, he loved his blood son too much to let harm come to him. No, it was the girlfriend who leaked information because she was also a police informant. 

The Rock drives to the next target and listens to a preacher’s sermon on the radio. A lot of what he’s saying applies to the Rock’s situation and it reminds me of the DJ bit in The Warriors. 

Billy Bob and Lady Cop talk shop. Every time they interact there’s more and more bread crumbs. She hasn’t put it all together yet, but the audience has. 

All three of our gunmen are converging once again. 

The Rock shows up for the next name on his list, and it is the same preacher he was listening to at a tent revival. The preacher is played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who has been in many movies but I remember him most as Adebisi on Oz and Mr. Eco on Lost. He gives the best performance in the movie. This interaction about faith, fate, and redemption adds weight and emotion that Rock is not able to pull off. The tension is so well done. Is there a path to redemption? Can vengeance be swayed? Driver says “God can’t save you from me,” yet spares the Evangelist’s life! Who is redeeming who here? 

Killer is already here and has watched the whole thing. The Rock sits in the tent alone, putting together his thoughts. He believes that the list is over. Billy Bob shows up and radios Lady Cop. She is also getting a fax just as she leaves to back him up. Killer wants the Rock’s respect and acknowledgement. Driver has no beef with Killer and feels his mission is complete. Killer let’s Rock in on the secret, that someone hired Killer, which means the list is not over. Billy Bob comes in and shoots Rock right in the head. 

Now we put it all together and see the Billy Bob is the one who shot Rock in the head 10 years ago. He was the go to officer for all of these informants and went rogue. He’s also the one who hired Killer. He’s also the one that didn’t pay attention to how the Rock is still alive, because he shoots him in the back of the head, where he was shot before, and where there is a giant metal plate which is tougher than bone. 

Billy Bob pays Killer his fee, which is one dollar. All of those framed dollars from earlier were trophies from his contract kills. It’s not about the money, it’s about the challenge. Side note, apparently this is legend for contract killers. As long as a dollar amount has exchanged hands, criminal charges are actually less for the killer and more for the person who paid for the killing to be done. I don’t know if this is federal or state statute, but interesting either way. 

Billy Bob calls his ex to let her know it’s all over and he can focus on putting their family back together. Too soon though because Driver pops up behind him and shoots Cop in the head. Sure enough, the earlier bullet bounced off the metal plate. 

As Billy Bob bleeds out he says, “I created my own hell.” To which the Rock responds, “and I’m the demon that crawled up out of it.” If I didn’t like the first bit of dialogue that this calls back to so much, I would hate this line but now it gets a pass. 

Killer heads home to do whatever comes after conquering tech start ups and contract killings. He probably got people to buy a bunch of NFTs and then cut ties quick. Lady Cop finds Billy Bob’s body and puts her evidence against him away. He died clean and on duty, which probably sets up his kid and ex financially. 

The Rock scatters his brother’s ashes. The preacher evangelist speaks of forgiveness. Driver drives off as the movie ends. 

This movie was far better than I would have expected. One of the cable channels used to have Movies for Guys Who Like Movies. This is perfect for that sort of audience. TBS or USA or WPIX of the 80s and 90s playing action movies on the weekend when there wasn’t a sports game exclusive to their channel. None of these movies are going to win Oscars. They’re not about feelings. They’re about cool guys with cool cars, cool guns, cool everything doing cool things. That’s all they achieve to me, and for that they are successful. 

It’s funny that we watched this movie this week, the same week that I finished a book by an author and a genre I’ve never read before. A step back before going forward with that point. 

I grew up loving comics, which influenced the movies I watched. Sure, I grew up in the VHS rental era and I loved looking at horror boxes but I was too scared to rent them. I’m reading Wizard and Starlog which directs me to watch Batman and Star Wars (don’t worry about the years, I’m making an overall point). Much like a social media algorithm, I was only exposed to and thus stayed in my wheelhouse. I knew of science fiction and comic related movies but didn’t explore action or thrillers. In fact, I thought thriller was a synonym for horror and thus too much for me. Then, later, this single lane exposed me to Kevin Smith. Hey me makes funny movies with lots of comic references. This then exposes me to Quentin Tarantino. Hey he makes movies which are nothing like I’ve ever seen before, with amazing dialogue, lots of pop culture references, great musical choices, and he credits his extensive love and knowledge of obscure movies for this. I’m not quite along for the ride yet, but I want people who are to tell me all about the trip. Then Grindhouse comes out and it’s eye opening. There’s an entire genre of movies like this? I’m using grindhouse as possibly more expansive of a term than it should be. Here’s this whole world of movies that is quick and dirty and devoid of bullshit. Cool guys, hot women, action, blood, cars, guns, violence, and most of all escape. Turn your brain back on in 90 minutes but enjoy the ride while we’re all together. 

Then, hey, guess what? This isn’t only applicable to movies. I knew of plenty of comics that fit this idea, but then I finally sat down to read Conan. I discover the pulps. I find the exploitation. I wonder if I could write something like it. I wonder if anyone is still doing things like this today. Granted Faster is from 2010 but I would still count it as a modern day movie. 

Earlier this week I finished reading the new novel from Brad Thor, Shadow of Doubt. I started reading a book my Dad is also reading earlier this year. This was our second one. I’ve never read anything like this before – a political thriller – but it’s really not that far off from Faster. Coolest guy in the room, cool cars, cool guns, cheating death left and right, bad guys dying all over the place, twists and turns. In so many ways it’s the same thing. 

I rewatched the first Venom movie with my son this past weekend, in anticipation for seeing the third movie in theaters sometime soon. The worst part of Venom, or Faster, or anything else mentioned is the audience presumptions. Where’s Spider-Man? How does this tie in? Why doesn’t he have the logo? What’s this? Who’s that? Why is the Rock in a dumb action movie again? Why is this book near 400 pages long? Who is this character? How does this tie into some larger franchise? 

Shut up and enjoy this for what it actually is, not what you think it should be. Venom is loads of fun for what it is, not the online discourse of what the audience expected out of it. Same with Faster. Same with the Star Wars prequels. Same with wrestling. Same with me seeing this giant book my dad suggested until I started at chapter one and decided to enjoy what was actually on the page and not what I thought should have been on the page. 

So, yeah, go out and watch Faster. Simple, like calling main characters Driver and Cop, does not mean stupid. It means first and last names are not important to the plot of the movie. Get rid of anything extraneous. Find a stupid movie to watch this weekend. Buy some trash fiction. Enjoy wrestling for being wrestling and not lore or cinema. These things aren’t only for old men in their 40s and older to enjoy. It’s just taken that long for us to embrace the escape.