Overdrive (2017) is a film that’s exactly what it looks like in its trailer and on its poster. Overdrive combines the spectacle of opulent wealth in Ocean’s 11 (2001) with the flash and automotive fetishism of Gone In 60 Seconds (2000) in an effort to cash-in on the success of the Fast & Furious franchise. In combining the aesthetics of these films, Overdrive dispenses with the ingenuity of these earlier films in favor of ensuring mass marketabilty, resulting in a film so blandly predictable that it appeals to no one.
Car movies like Overdrive can either emphasize character to the point that spectacle is secondary or embrace a visual inventiveness that re-imagines how motion is recorded on film. Friedkin, Frankenheimer and Halicki all left an indelible mark on the way that chase scenes and automotive races are filmed that persists to this day. Overdrive director Antonio Negret lacks both the courage and artistic discipline to achieve what these masters of technique had done before. But Negret is also unable to even effectively imitate these other filmmakers, rendering his chase scenes as something akin to Mission: Impossible B-roll or a Chevy commercial.
Since acting is never a concern in Overdrive and technical craftsmanship an after thought, all a masculinist film like Overdrive can offer in terms of spectacle is sleaze. But even in this department Overdrive misfires, delivering sexualized images that hardly merit even a PG-13 rating, essentially closing the door on the films grindhouse roots. So all that Overdrive can ultimately offer viewers is a picturesque view of some villas in the south of France and Ana de Armas.
Ana de Armas gives a wholly committed performance in Overdrive, stealing the show from her bland leading men and the under utilized character actors around her. She cares about Overdrive even if all the film demands of her is that she look stunning in a black bikini. Hers is a good performance, but what is even more admirable is her professionalism and commitment to her craft.
