Overrated and overhyped

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The stories of these four men as the subject(s) of Errol Morris's ultra-quirky and intellectually/purely humanely stimulating documentary Fast Cheap & Out of Control would be sort of too simplistic for one documentary by themselves. Each one has a fascinating profession, with some personalization coming in, naturally, by way of what each profession carries with it: lion/other animal tamer in the circus, robot designer, topiary gardener, and mole-rat scientist/specialist. They're dedicated to their profession 100%, and keep getting genuinely surprised by what they discover through trial and error, either through science or in dealing with elements in nature head on, be they a turn of an electrical screw or an extra clip on the hedges. This might be enough for interest as a documentary, switching between perspectives on people in professions that get taken for granted, in some ways, when compared to those of usual-minded business drones and other people who go about more banal affairs in American life.But Morris is too impulsive an editor and archivist to just let the interviewees say everything there is. His style comes in full-tilt by the way he captures these mole-rats, these large robots of the future, and the towering creatures fashioned by large shears ala Edward Scissorhands, in the shooting style- never in one mold but all over the place, experimenting, catching things as they might come by for someone looking around and in-depth at the subjects- as well as in an editing style keeping one ready for what image comes next. Entertainingly, Morris throws in, as part of the animal tamer's stories of daring-do (however 'daring' being around a system that has worked for him all his life to stay alive), and how he was inspired by a movie-star from the golden days of B-movies to push forward in a profession that takes more common sense than dumb guts, we see clips from these old movies, sometimes as if right from the movie theater. Then, as if out of science-fiction, Morris combines the images of the mole-rat with that of the robots, each given direction by their 'supervisors', into a kind of strange miasma that works sublimely.What helps, aside from the typical Philip Glass music, is that Morris understands how these people are connected and how they're unique all the same. They're involved, to differing degrees, the world of animals, in controlling them, fashioning them, and using them as bases of comparison for big leaps into fields ambitious (those robots couldn't do what they do without those ants) and more traditional (the topiary fields are like works of art unto themselves). There's also the subliminal connection of each profession acting as much living as thrill-a-minute idealism. Finding something in the environment or framework of a rat is not much different, at least psychologically, from finding a new way to get a robot to walk around. Yet all the same, all four men have their niche cut out as if there could be nothing else for them in the world. Being content with what you do with your life is one of the essentials human beings strive for, and if nothing else Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is an essential and rare work of weird genius as it makes it exhilarating to see people who, through personal and professional follies, are not disconnected from their lives via work. If anything, they make most of us seem dull and lifeless by comparison.

Four men are interviewed separately. One man studies hairless mole rats. One man is a topiary gardener. One man is a retired lion tamer. One is a robotics designer. Each has a passion (or an obsession) with their chosen subject but have seemingly little in common. With the collection of their interviews, Errol Morris explores the themes of growth, development and evolution of species.My plot summary suggests that I "got" what Morris was trying to do but really this is my guess. If that was his intension though then he has fallen short of it because rather than coming together to form a documentary, the film feels like it is all over the place with no real direction or control over the subject matter. Each of the men are reasonably interesting by themselves and the topics are unusual enough to hold the interest. However the way Morris uses them is poor and the film is cluttered with archive movie footage and a terrible musical score. I'm not totally sure how he was trying to get to where he wanted to be, maybe at one point he just decided to revel in the "weirdness" of his subjects and give up on pulling it all together.The men are mostly interesting even if their subjects aren't particularly. The gardener was probably the only one that I actively found pretty dull, the others had a bit of character and passion that endeared them to me. Maybe if Morris had tried to do more with the men themselves he could have done something interesting, but by going for the bigger theme he loses his way and ultimately his film shows it consistently throughout.Overall then a disappointing film from start to finish. Die-hard fans of Morris might find enough of his style and interest to carry them through but for me I found it to be a real mess of a documentary that doesn't seem to have any design or structure about and left me wondering what I was watching and why I was bothering.

Wow! What an example of well executed polyphony. Like different melodies coming together in innumerable ways, the stories of these four people harmonize and clash, cross and meet and merge and separate again. A friend of mine expressed his admiration in a spontaneous expression of awe: "How did he know what to shoot and how to shoot it? How could he see, beforehand, which notes from one story would resonate with notes from another, and which images could render those resonances? Did he just shoot the f*** out of it? Basically, I am doubting whether I would ever be able to make a movie that did that, even after seeing this film and knowing it can be done." – Exactly.

Encapsulated reviews are misleading. I had several times bypassed "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" on IFC for more lively sounding fare on movie channels. When I finally selected it as the least boring of an afternoon's TV movie offerings, I regretted not having picked it sooner and seen it more often.This documentary delighted me! Interviews were enhanced by display of the works of four brilliant practitioners, fanatical about the unusual focus of their work or study. We are introduced to naked mole rats, robots as the next stage in evolution, wild animal training and a visionary handicrafter/topiary designer. Each professional provided unusual insights to their efforts and perhaps to our own natures as human beings.The documentary seemed designed to hold even those with the even shortest of attention spans. Rather than engaging each subject in depth as a single segment, the interviews are presented in approximately one minute scenarios, often with a montage of old film footage relating connections and historical ideas about some of the subject matter. Just as a viewer's mind might start to drift during a segment, it collides with the next subject, often forcing mental connections that may not have come naturally.After watching this one, I felt compelled to find and view the other productions of Errol Morris, and I shall keep an eye out for his future works. I believe that its audience should comprise anyone with a spark of interest in the world around them and the desire to be entertained. Whether you are fond of documentaries or not, I think this one will offer a pleasant and quickly passing ninety minutes.Gene Romero gromero001@aol.com