A corrupt prison guard becomes involved in a plot to murder a black revolutionary serving time in his prison.A corrupt prison guard becomes involved in a plot to murder a black revolutionary serving time in his prison.A corrupt prison guard becomes involved in a plot to murder a black revolutionary serving time in his prison.
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Although leisurely paced, "Fast-Walking" is a frequently riveting look at corruption in a prison system. It gets a fair amount of juice from a typically electrifying performance by Woods, but even he is outshone by the late Tim McIntire, who's magnetic as an ambitious and crafty convict named Wasco. Woods also has fine scenes with the tantalizingly sexy Kay Lenz, as Wascos' girl "Moke". Moke makes it clear from the moment of her first encounter with Fast-Walking that she's not somebody to be messed with. Lenz does have one extremely memorable sequence where she turns on almost every male present in the visiting room. The rest of the supporting cast is stocked with some excellent actors and actresses: M. Emmet Walsh as Fast-Walkings' superior, Charles Weldon as his co-worker, Susan Tyrrell (looking more glamorous than usual) as Evie, Lance LeGault as Lieutenant Barnes, Sandy Ward as the warden, and Sydney Lassick as an inmate. The great screen psycho Timothy Carey has an amusing role as eccentric kingpin "Bullet".
"Fast-Walking" was adapted from the novel by Ernest Brawley by producer & director James B. Harris, who produced some of Kubricks' films when he was younger and who would again work with Woods on the police drama "Cop". The story is entertaining and on location shooting at a real prison aids in the authenticity. Some viewers will be pleased with the amount of full frontal female nudity. (Be warned, however, that we also get full frontal from Mr. Walsh!)
Nicely scored by Lalo Schifrin, this is a fairly interesting film worth a look for fans of prison-based cinema and actor Woods.
Eight out of 10.
Well, as for the flick...it was deplorable. I mean, Tim Mcintire as Wasco? Wasco was the baddest mutha...talking 'bout WASCO...Mcintire as Wasco is like casting Tim Conway as Charles Manson.
What happened to the MAIN character in the book? Little Arv. He doesn't even exist in the movie...Fast Walking WAS NOT the main dude in the book. Why even name credit this thing with THE RAP? None of the spirit, atmosphere, nastiness, or drama of the book was captured in this movie.
For me it was not only a disappointment, but a total waste of time and celluloid.
Although the plot of the novel is held together by the glue of the conspiracy within the prison, the novel itself is filled with a rich cast of colorful, fully developed characters who force the reader think about all those things good novels do--life, death, love, hate, family bonds, freedom, bondage. James Woods is a fine actor, but this poor adaptation of a truly great novel was so thinly drawn that I didn't at first even recognize "Fast Walking" as having come from 'The Rap'. It's a decent little movie, but would have been better had the film makers tried to put more of Brawley's viewpoint, characters and keen observations into it. See the film first, then get a copy of 'The Rap'. If you do it the other way around as I did, you will be disappointed in the movie.
It's clear that there is a lot of the book this was based on that was left out of the movie. What we are left with is a sloppy story about a sloppy individual who has managed to skate through a corrupt world so far; a common theme as the 1970s gave way to the 1980s. The opening sequence has an "Easy Rider" vibe to it, and the world comes down to the prison where the guards think they have the power, but are reluctant to use it, preferring to rely on habit, while some of the prisoners, like Tim McIntire, run the rackets inside.
There are bits and pieces left over from the book that indicate that writer-director James B. Harris left out a lot: Timothy Carey as a con strong-armed out of some of the rackets; two men standing outside of Woods' apartment; Charles Weldon as a fellow guard. Yet the movie seems to be more interested in the arresting moments than what they lead to, in the vague fog that is the movie's story. They certainly keep the movie interesting enough to watch to the end, but left me feeling that there was no real conclusion.
Did you know
- TriviaThe book the film was based on was showcased many different characters - none of which were the "focus" of the story. Writer/director James B. Harris originally wrote his first draft of the screenplay around the book, but soon discovered that the character of Frank "Fast-Walking" Minniver was the most interesting and unique and decided to make him the central role.
- Quotes
Wasco: I'm buying you out.
Bullet: You're what?
Wasco: I'm going to make you a very honorable proposal of a business nature that you're not going to be able to refuse.
Bullet: Oh yeah?
Wasco: God damn, you smell bad, man. Whew. Ahh... Let me run this down to you, Bullet, old baby. Number one, you're a junkie, which means you can't maintain the kind of objectivity that's necessary in an operation like this. Number two, you don't have my organization, my supply, you don't have my connections, frankly see, you're action's weak, small time, small profit, nickel-dime bag operation at best. Your supply's erratic, your goods are inferior, you deal nothing but trash and garbage.
Bullet: Hey, wait a minute...
Wasco: Shut up, and listen. Now, you see, I can offer this market dynamite smack, man, I mean the best money can buy, it's so good you can get off just snorting it. Save everybody the trouble of carrying a fit around with them all the time, you know? They can just chip like that till they get out. And I got a guaranteed supply daily, coming in six days a week. Any kind of thrill, any kind of quality, any kind of quantity that any customer can desire. I can sell by the cap, the bag, the bindle, the bundle, the half load, nickel, dime, quarter, trey bag, piece of the pill, you just call it and I've got it. Got ludes, crank, Bombitas coke, bam, black beauties, cartwheels, yellow jackets, reds, long greens, rainbows, beans. And STP and PCP and DMT and LSD, and psilocybin and mescaline, and THC, amphetamine meth, biphetamine, phenobarbital, benzedrine, dexedrine, librium, miltown, dilaudid, morphine, seconol, demerol, goofballs, truck drivers, yellow stripes, tuinal, disosix, carbon tetrachroride, strychnine, arsenic, anything, I can deal anything except marijuana and hashish, because I can't stand the smell of that shit. And for the ultimate thrill of your lifetime, I'll personally drill a little hole right in your head and you can see the light of the lord shine in there. Can even offer dollies, I got the best doll for you money can buy, for anybody wants to just sit back sweet and easy, and kick their habit one day at a time. Now I ain't jealous, see, cause I ain't a junkie. I don't really approve of the use of any kind of dope, but if there's a market, if somebody's gonna buy it they may as well but it from me as buy it from the next guy. Cause you know there's a lot of dudes who brought their habit in here with them, man, and they got to have that wake up. They gotta have the nooner, and the matinee, and the sleepy time every day, seven days a week, just like clockwork. And I'm prepared to offer this jam, which is the best fucking hard-ass poison on the market today. And I can offer you something else, you want to know what that is?
Bullet: What's that?
Wasco: Protection. Top to bottom.
Bullet: Yeah? Who's made?
Wasco: Who's ma...
[smirks]
Wasco: ... You're already pissing your pants, man, you're getting in on one of the biggest deals ever made in any joint anywhere, ever, and you're asking me 'Who's made'? That's why you never got anywhere, cause you think small, that's small thinking, see? I'm thinking about diversification. You know what that word means, diversification? It means cigarettes, and prostitution, and banking services, and loan facilities, organized gambling, and liquor, and clothing sales, and uncensored postal service, and underground courier service direct to the street, and stud service, and telephone service direct to the outside. I'm even thinking about selling processed hair accoutrements to the raghead nigger conks. I'm gonna smuggle in contraband hot sauce for the spic cell block lunch time, direct from the Tiopico chili factory in Tijuana, what do you think about that?
Bullet: I think you're crazy. Out of your fucking mind.
Wasco: Lets say I offered you a deal you can't refuse.
Bullet: What's that?
Wasco: You just turn your whole operation over to me, intact, just like it is right now. Then when my supply starts coming in, which might even be today, you just sit back. We got a silent partnership, you got no jeopardy, no risk, you get ten percent of the whole operation, you make more money than you ever did before.
Bullet: What if I say no?
Wasco: You can't.
Bullet: Yeah, but what if I do?
Wasco: I'll kill ya. I'd love to kill ya, I'll throw you off the fucking tier right now, you'll wish you hadn't said that all the way down.
Bullet: You'll never get away with it.
Wasco: What do you care if I get away with it, you'll be dead.
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Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
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