Traffic in Los Angeles has a pretty bad reputation. You could get on Interstate 405 and be greeted by four open lanes of highway where every guy in a sports car is easily pushing 90 mph, or you could be crawling along at 5 mph in the worst bumper-to-bumper traffic you’ve ever seen. “Speed” made me feel like I was in the latter, stuck between two student drivers in way-too-expensive cars during rush hour.
The movie starts with a tense hostage situation: A bomber has rigged an elevator full of civilians to plummet several stories to their deaths if he doesn’t receive $3 million from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). After a rather humorous scene in which Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) displays the worst hostage negotiation skills known to man, Jack and his partner, Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels) save the civilians and chase down the bomber, who is later revealed to be Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper). Reeves’ stiff dialogue in this opening sequence becomes a benchmark for the rest of the movie, as he flatly delivers line after line.
A short while later, Jack is enjoying his morning coffee and muffin when a Los Angeles city bus explodes. Howard taunts Jack through a payphone, demanding $3.7 million and telling him that another bus has been rigged to explode if it goes below 50 mph. The rules are simple: No passengers are allowed off the bus or Howard blows it up. Jack manages to get on the bus and ensure that the driver does not go below 50 mph. One of the passengers, Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock), takes the wheel as Jack tries to figure out how to disarm the bomb.
After several unbelievable — but highly amusing — stunts (involving drifting the bus and jumping a 50-foot gap Evel Knievel-style), the bus ends up at Los Angeles International Airport, the last place on Earth you’d want to be regardless of the explosives and impending threat of death. The LAPD manages to identify Howard due to his unique bomb-making style, but Howard proves to be two steps ahead of them at all times. Jack unsuccessfully tries to defuse the bomb before realizing Howard’s game and saving the passengers. After what seems like the most fun and explosive shot for the stunt team to film, Jack and the LAPD bait Howard with the money, which goes about how you would expect given Howard’s success so far. In the final act, Jack boards an out-of-control train to save Annie from Howard and stop his bombings.
Reeves gets a lot of grief for his poor acting, and this movie is all you would need to show someone to prove this point. His one-liners are so bizarre they make you laugh, such as when someone asks if there’s anything in the way to stop the elevator from dropping and killing everyone inside, to which Reeves simply and flatly responds: “The basement.” The friendly partner banter between Reeves and Daniels shows signs of promise in the beginning, but unfortunately for the audience, Daniels’ character is largely relegated to a few quick appearances in the precinct and an anti-climactic conclusion. Jack is consistently described as a man who doesn’t take the time to stop and think, and it becomes hard to tell whether Reeves is method acting or just that bad at delivering lines.
Even Reeves’ budding romance with Bullock’s character feels odd and slightly forced. Bullock does an admirable job of playing the civilian who steps up when they’re needed, even drifting a bus at one point. Just like her character, Bullock becomes a saving grace for this movie by providing a breath of fresh air and well-delivered lines. Hopper plays the role of a menacing terrorist solidly, but it is by no means a stellar performance. His character easily outmaneuvers the police at every turn, casually observing the mayhem from several TVs. While Howard’s motives are not the most original, he is menacing enough to be an interesting villain. Despite the high-octane premise (Who doesn’t love an out-of-control bus?), the dialogue kills any buzz you might get and the stunts are simply too absurd at times. Just like Annie driving the bus, you have to steer into the skid and embrace the comically bad aspects of this movie to enjoy it.
