While not a traditional dissection of a film’s unspeakable remains, this is a peculiar case study regarding the similar pathology of two distinct films. Sure, Point Break and Fast and the Furious are the same basic plot, but that’s not exactly remarkable. What is remarkable is the number of tiny similarities indistinguishable to the average moviegoer. The parallels that only a self-taught expert in the made-up field of Screenplay Forensics would notice. Come, I’ll show you:
1.) The undercover cop profiles/identifies the criminals the same way…
In Point Break, the idea that a group of intelligent, organized bank robbers are a group of grungy surfer-dudes is completely ridiculous…until FBI Special Agent Johnny Utah puts together (with the help of Gary Busey) that the robbers have tan lines, leave traces of “Sex Wax,” a popular surf-related product, and hair samples left at the crime scene have traces of disgusting Southern California ocean waste.
Based off all this circumstantial, thin, over-reaching information, Utah manages to meet the exact same men robbing all these banks within a couple weeks.
In The Fast and the Furious, LAPD officer Brian O’Conner (with help from Ted Levine) puts together that the intelligent, organized group of hijackers stealing truckloads of DVD players (back when DVD players were like $600) are into street racing and import/tuner cars. Brian and his superiors are convinced of this because the hijack cars are ’92-’95 Honda Civics, and they all have green neon lights installed in the undercarriage, like douchebags. Okay, it’s not a huge leap that these jokers are into that pathetic subculture of automotive peacocking.
Based off all this circumstantial, thin, over-reaching information, however, Brian manages to meet the exact same folks attacking and stealing all those cargo loads within several days.
2.) Both undercover cops use a false identity that is partially based on their true identity.
Special Agent Johnny Utah is a former college football star from Ohio, who after injuring himself in his final game pursued a law degree and a future in the FBI. Under his false identity, Johnny becomes friends with the surfers as…Johnny Utah, a former college football star, who after injuring himself in his final game pursued a law degree and a future in…working at a bank. He also lied to his love interest, Tyler, that his parents were killed in a car wreck. So, a blend of lies and truth.
Officer Brian O’Conner (as we find out in sequels, I’ll grant) is a former hell-raiser who grew up boosting cars and competing them in Barstow’s demolition derbies. Under his false identity as Brian Spilman, he becomes friends with the racers as a former hell-raiser who spent a few years in prison for boosting cars in Arizona. So, a blend of lies and truth.
3.) Both undercover cops pursue their romantic interest by ordering food.
Johnny Utah doggedly harasses Tyler into teaching him to surf. Her refusals and his persistence reach their apex when he follows her to work and orders food from her. After explaining why he must learn to surf (some combination of “my parents died” and “I’m from Ohio and I’ve never seen the ocean”), Tyler relents and Johnny starts his journey into the world of criminals and extreme sports.
Brian O’Conner shows up to Dominic Toretto’s auto shop/grocery/deli (I’m guessing here) on a regular basis bordering on the obsessive. Upon his every visit, he orders a sandwich and flirts with Dom’s sister Mia. Even when Dom’s childhood friend and enforcer Vincent threatens Brian, he insists on staying and finishing his meal.
4.) Speaking of meals, both undercover cops eat the exact same meal…twice.
Johnny Utah’s meal choice while badgering Tyler about surfing lessons is a shrimp basket. She decides to make it a “to-go” order in order to get rid of him. Later in the movie, while on a stakeout, Utah is sent to a sandwich shop nearby to fetch Gary Busey two meatball subs. While there, Johnny orders himself a tuna sandwich.
Obviously the order is “to-go” again here, since he has to get back to the car.
Brian’s constant visits to Toretto’s shop are always accompanied by him ordering a tuna sandwich. Despite Vincent’s insistence that no one likes the tuna served at Toretto’s, Brian always orders this same sandwich from Mia. Naturally, his order is “for here,” since he needs to case the joint and flirt with his violent suspect’s sister. Later in the movie, Brian and Dom take the newly-fixed Toyota Supra for a spin and stop for a beer and a bite. During their conversation at the restaurant, Brian is eating a basket of shrimp. Which he then makes a conspicuous reference to. Naturally, there’s no food allowed in Dom’s new car, so this meal is “for here.”
So, the only dietary difference between Utah and O’Conner appears to be where they eat. This wouldn’t be so weird if we didn’t get explicit dialogue in both movies referencing the same two meals.
5.) Both criminal leaders foster a much younger enthusiast, who is killed by gunfire.
Over the course of Point Break, we meet the surfing honcho Bodhi and his band of miscreants. Among them is a much younger fellow dubbed “Grommet” by his role model. Due to unforeseen consequences of bank robbing, Grommet is blown away by an off-duty cop during the final robbery. An emotional Bodhi pleads for his “little brother” to live, but he doesn’t. I guess them’s the breaks when it comes to surf-skydive-robbery.
Over the course of The Fast and the Furious, we also meet Dom Toretto and his band of miscreants. Among them is a much younger fellow named Jesse, who is dubbed “the Mad Scientist” by his role model Dom. Jesse is a brilliant mind hindered by ADD and a troubled past. Due to unforeseen consequences of illegal auto racing (and welching on a pink-slip bet), Jesse is mercilessly gunned down by the Little Saigon gang. I guess them’s the breaks when it comes to race-hijacking-being-in-a-total-ripoff-movie.
6.) Both undercover cops divert their investigation away from their criminal friends, and toward a much more violent gang of criminals.
Johnny Utah becomes friends with Bodhi and has a hard time believing his philosophical, peaceful, goofball surfer buddy could be a violent criminal. So he diverts the investigation toward a group of aggressive local surfers who he recently fought with Bodhi. As it turned out, the much more violent surfers were definitely criminals…just not the criminals Johnny was investigating.
Brian O’Conner becomes friends with Dom Toretto and has a hard time believing his family-oriented, level-headed, sarcastic racer buddy could be a violent criminal (despite Dom’s criminal record, involving a violent attack). So he diverts the investigation toward a group of aggressive Vietnamese racers who he recently was shot at with Dom. As it turned out, the much more violent Little Saigon gangsters were definitely criminals…just not the criminals Brian was investigating.
7.) Both undercover operatives participate in the “bust” despite still being undercover.
When Johnny Utah and his partner Pappas decide to arrest the violent local surfers, Johnny participates in the FBI’s tactical surrounding and entry of the house. This would never happen in reality, as Johnny would not be allowed to blow his cover and identify himself as law enforcement until long after the arrests…possibly not until trial. It’s like, he’s voiding his undercover warranty.
When Brian O’Conner and his superiors decide to arrest Johnny Tran, Brian participates in the SWAT team’s tactical surrounding and entry of the house. This would never happen in reality, as Brian would not be allowed to blow his cover and identify himself as law enforcement until long after the arrests. Sure, Brian is at least clad in SWAT gear with his face obscured, but realistically he would not be present during an arrest, particularly if he would be testifying against the suspect in court. Just from a logistical standpoint, imagine if he were injured or killed during the arrest. Then who would testify?
8.) Both undercover cops first blow their cover to the romantic interest. And both state their position in a concrete, point blank statement.
Johnny Utah is confronted by Tyler about his lies and his undercover work. Later, an exasperated Johnny tells Bodhi flat-out, “This is your wake-up call. I am…an F-B-I…agent!” This starts the third act of the movie down a fast-paced, violent path that ends with the cop and the criminal facing off in a dangerous and extreme skydive.
Brian O’Conner confronts Mia about her brother’s lies and criminal activity. When she insists that Brian stay out of it, he responds flat-out to her, “Listen, Mia. I’m a cop.” This starts the third act of the movie down a fast-paced, violent path that ends with the cop and the criminal facing off in a dangerous and extreme drag race.
9.) Both extreme-sporty criminals cite adrenaline as their philosophy/motivation.
Bodhi, the surfing guru who robs banks in a Ronald Reagan mask, is very particular about how he sees the world. He claims the robberies are “never about the money, this was about us against the system. That system that kills the human spirit. We stand for something.” Also, the money goes to financing his surfing around the world and expensive skydiving expeditions.
Adrenaline is Bodhi’s religion, as he is adamant that “If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It’s not tragic to die doing what you love.” This is a bit of foreshadowing, as Bodhi eventually does die pursuing “the ultimate wave.”
Dom Toretto is also very particular about how he lives his life. The street racer who hijacks trucks says regarding racing, “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. For those ten seconds or less, I’m free.” Adrenaline is Dom’s religion, you see. And this is…also a bit of foreshadowing. As Dom races a quarter-mile drag against Brian and in the end is given his freedom from pursuit.
CONCLUSIONS:
Well, duh. The Fast and the Furious is a really obvious rip-off of Point Break. But we all knew that. The real interest here is in the small details. Why are so many small things the same? Small things that don’t even affect the plot, or the characters? Is it possible that we could use the heavy word plagiarism here? Or is this a Tarantino-style homage?
A better question is, who wrote these two different movies, and have they ever crossed paths? We’ll take a look, because we can conclude that someone paid too much attention to the tiniest of details of Point Break, and they found their way into The Fast and the Furious.
PRIME SUSPECTS:
Well, Point Break was written by W. Peter Iliff, with story credit going to Rick King.
Iliff wrote the screenplays for Varsity Blues, a decent enough high school football drama, and Patriot Games, certainly not the worst Jack Ryan movie. Dude seems pretty competent. He even has some directing credits.
Rick King seems to come from documentary territory. I was unable to recognize a single credit under his name, except Point Break itself and Kickboxer 3: The Art of War, which he directed but did not write. Hmm. This man is a cipher. Seriously, look at Rick King’s IMDb page and tell me about him. I challenge you. But hey, if Kathryn Bigelow gave him credit for the story of Point Break, you listen to her.
As for The Fast and the Furious, predictably the writing credits list four people. One is Ken Li, who evidently wrote a magazine article that somehow contributed to the movie. I’m betting it was an article on illegal street racing. Probably not on “How to Bone a Violent Criminal’s Sister While Inexplicably Producing Two Cars You Couldn’t Possibly Afford.”
Erik Bergquist is given a screenplay credit. And to my surprise, it is the only thing on his IMDb page. And by that I mean the only thing at all. No picture, no bio, no additional credits at all, not even a flame-war in progress in the message boards. Nothing. You know, I think Vin Diesel may have murdered this poor man.
We also have David Ayer listed for screenplay, and HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THIS GUY’S PICTURE! He is without a doubt the scariest screenwriter I’ve ever seen. And I immediately recognized his name, as it is commonly bandied about when people tell me how amazing they thought Training Day was. Me personally? I thought, “Eh.” Ayers also wrote the scripts for S.W.A.T. and U-571, two more “eh” movies. Well, we have the guy who injected supposed badassery into The Fast and the Furious, but we still don’t have our die-hard fan of Point Break, I don’t think. This guy seems like he would consider himself above that movie.
Gary Scott Thompson is listed for both screenplay duty and “screen story.” What the hell does that mean? What’s the difference between story and screen story? Oh, well this guy has a track record. He’s the writer/producer behind the show “Las Vegas” with Josh Duhamel as well as the 2008 “Knight Rider” remake that lasted about a week. He’s also responsible for the terrible Al Pacino movie 88 Minutes and he has story credits for Hollow Man.
Wait…Hollow Man is essentially H.G. Wells’ “Invisible Man” story with slick ‘90s horror built in. 88 Minutes is a bandwagon jump on the whole “takes place in real time” gimmick, done much better in Phone Booth four years previous. This guy recycles shit, he puts style before substance…this is probably our guy.
Well, mystery solved. We didn’t save any lives, but neither of these movies is a travesty. So…hey college readers! Here’s a paper!
