Both the 1991 film, Point Break, directed by Katheryn Bigelow, and the 2001 movie The Fast and the Furious, directed by Rob Cohen, have put new spins on catching law breakers in their own environment.

Speed and Surf

Audience’s fascination with cop and robber type movies has been ever changing since the creation of films. From James Cagney flicks from the 20’s and 30’s, to the westerns of the 50’s and 60’s, there have been countless settings for this exciting genre of movie. In recent years, new ideas for the background stories behind these cinematic joyrides have occurred. Both the 1991 film, Point Break, directed by Katheryn Bigelow, and the 2001 movie The Fast and the Furious, directed by Rob Cohen, have put new spins on catching law breakers in their own environment. Although these works differ in settings by one set in the world of surfing and the other in street racing, the parallels between the two are plentiful.

Point Break is a film starring Keanu Reeves as, Johnny Utah, an undercover FBI agent that infiltrates the elite world of surfers in order to bring a gang of bank robbers to justice. During his assignment he uses a girl to get close to the surfers. This woman, turns out to be an ex-girlfriend the leader of one of the surfer gangs. Unexpectedly he develops feelings for her. Furthermore, he befriends that leader, who is played by Patrick Swayze. Swayze’s character Bodie, is a free spirit that loves to surf and to fight for what he believes in. These qualities are very similar to those of agent Utah’s. Even when Utah is sure that it is Bodie’s gang that is pulling bank jobs, he finds himself torn between his friendship and his job. After much debate he finally commits to finishing his assignment. He didn’t expect his cover to be blown and his new girlfriend to be held for ransom. The terms of her release are for him to help the bank robbing surfers do one last job. This last job turns bloody with both the good guys and the bad losing their lives. Thankfully, Utah manages to keep his life and his girlfriend. The down side was Bodie and the only other remaining robber escaped. After weeks of tracking Bodie down, Utah finds him down in Australia. Instead of taking him into custody like he should, Utah lets him take his life doing the one thing he truly loved, surfing.

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The Fast and the Furious is not set on the sands of the beach, but the asphalt of various quarter mile strips. This picture stars Paul Walker as undercover policeman Brian O’Conner. His task is to penetrate a ring of street racers in order to uncover the culprits of the truck high-jackings happening on the California freeways. He blends in with one street team in particular. He flirts with the team leader’s sister to do this. The leader is Dom, played by Vin Diesel. Diesel like Bodie is a free spirit who has one love in his life. In this case it isn’t surfing, but it is racing. After earning some respect by racing some of the top people in the underground world of street racing, Brian becomes an unofficial member of Dom’s gang. Like Utah in Point Break, he has trouble letting himself believe that his new friends can be the same people that he must catch. Dom’s character seems to take on a brotherly form and just as in Point Break, the question if Brian can do his job or not comes about. During another heist, things go wrong. One of Dom’s members gets hurt, and Brian loses his cover. Instead of using Brian to pull a job as in Point Break, this job turns out to be the last one. The only question left is if Brian can apprehend Dom. This movie ends on a happier note in that Dom doesn’t die like Bodie’s character. Instead Brian simply gives him the keys to his car and lets him go. Unfortunately, you never know if Brian and Dom’s sister ever get back together. Although both films end with a bang, this one leaves more questions than the other does.

Both The Fast and The Furious and Point Break give the audience a fresh view of what types of people can pull off elaborate heists. It doesn’t have to be a methodical criminal. It can be a band of relatively educated surfers or street racers. In doing this both Bigelow, and Cohen make the bad guys less of a threat. Although what the characters of Bodie and Dom are not to be condoned, it doesn’t seem all that bad either. The themes of kinship and uncertainty are prevalent through both movies. Even though both movies are not Oscar caliber features, they keep the audience very entertained. Neither Bigelow, nor Cohen sacrifices the fun factor for the story. They didn’t need to, because it doesn’t matter what setting is in, audiences are fascinated with cop and robber movies. Hopefully, even more original ideas will present themselves in these films in times to come.