Early on in One Fast Move, biker Wes Neal (KJ Apa, unrecognisable from his Riverdale days) is just about to leave prison, and an officer briefs him about the discharge process. He responds dryly: “When can I get my bike back?” It sets the tone for a racy sports thriller about bikes and bad men. However, the first race doesn’t even appear until halfway through the film. We first meet veteran biker Dean Miller (Eric Dane), Neal’s biological father, who left him as a child.
This is a potentially melodramatic premise, but One Fast Move steers clear of any feelings. Neal goes to Dean not because he wants a father, but rather to get his life back together through motorsport. Dean doesn’t have any sense of guilt and agrees to train Neal only because he is a good biker.
What keeps them together is not their relationship but a shared passion for bikes. In the film’s best portion, they are just two men biking—and the emotional nuances of the father-son relationship don’t matter. Bring in another father figure, Abel (Edward James Olmos, exuding wise grandpa energy), and we get many funny one-liners.
For example, Dean looks at Abel and says, “He hasn’t been laid since Reagan was president”, to which Abel responds, “He hasn’t won a race since Bush was president, and I’m talking about the first one.” Basic dialogues, but effective still. The romantic angle (with Maia Reficco playing Camila), albeit needless, is handled well too. Camila gets nice little touches, like not bringing her son near Neal after seeing him get violent once, or being amused every time a bike whizzes past, instead of just cheering for Neal.