Customer Reviews

R.P.M.

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I came across RPM locally in a bargain bin. I thought "Famke Janssen (of Xmen fame) and fast cars. Its obviously not Gone in 60 Seconds, but probably worth a look." Oh was I wrong.

The acting was BAD from the get go, with actor David Arquette faking his way through the opening scene. His supporting actors, from the villain of the piece to the Interpol detective, do not a thing to redeem this lemon.

Other distractions include the plot, which has holes big enough to drive a truck through. The sound is atrocious. At times the dubbed lines don't match the actors' lips. More often, the background noise, or pitiful soundtrack, drowns out the dialogue. I was constantly reaching for the remote trying to compensate. I shouldn't have bothered.

Again, I wasn't expecting The Fast & the Furious or Gone in 60 Seconds, just a mindless romp with fast cars and some eye candy. I had to work far too hard at this one. Don't waste your time.

Luke Delson (David Arquette) is a car thief who specializes in liberating classic cars from unappreciative owners. When the heat from Interpol agents gets too hot for him stateside, he flees to France where he helps a big time thief named Chiarkos steal as many classic cars as they can. What Luke doesn't know is that Chiarkos has hired another thief: a leggy brunette named Claudia (Famke Janssen). Luke and Claudia have a history together and are bitter rivals. Luke bristles at the thought of partnering with Claudia, so the two compete against each other to see who can bring in the most cars. Meanwhile, a crazy scientist has developed a new fuel efficient car called the RPM. All sorts of shady businessmen, including Chiarkos, desperately want it. He offers Luke an extra couple of million if he'll get it for him. When Claudia learns of this secret deal she gets herself a partner and plans to steal the car before Luke can. All kinds of car chases and heists ensue. The film sucks thanks to embarrassing acting, horrible writing and unimpressive action scenes. This is disappointing since Arquette, Janssen and Emmanuelle Seigner, who plays Arquette's love interest, are good and reliable actors. Here their performances are amateurish and painful to watch. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though since the script doesn't give them anything to work with. The film was originally planned as the sophomore effort of 'Pulp Fiction' co-writer Roger Avary, but when he couldn't get the cast he wanted due to budget problems he dropped out. According to Amazon and IMDB some of his writing remains intact. It's easy to spot because it's the only dialogue that's actually good. Even though the film is bad it's kind of fun at times too. It knows it's trash and rather than try to be anything else it revels in the fact. I'd almost say that the film is a so bad it's good candidate. Besides, even when everything else about it sucks you have the gorgeous faces of Janssen and Seigner to ogle.

RPM featuring the beautiful Famke Janssen and the witty David Arquette is a movie that got buried under the hype of other car heist films of the summer. I did not have high expectations for this film because I did not expect the action sequence and intensity of the summer blockbuster GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS. However, I was not disappointed by the performances of Ms. Janssen and Mr. Arquette. Set mostly in France, this film managed to tickle more than a few funny bones. The two main characters in the film are the best at what they do...stealing cars. They are not in it for the money, they are in it for the adrenaline rush and the satisfaction of out-doing each other. Needless to say, they manage to get themselves into many sticky situations( literally for Ms. Janssen's character). You'll have to watch the film to see if they manage to get themselves out of their sticky predicaments. So set your remote control for cruise control and enjoy this movie.

There are so many things wrong with this movie that I don't know where to start. I think it was Fox's way of capitalizing on the rush of car movies in the last few years.

My biggest problem is the plot. There are holes and side plots that really make no sense. Luke is a lot like Ferris Bueller, he gets in trouble and causes problems. His biggest problem is he's addicted to stealing classic cars, sometimes from right under their owner's noses. When his most recent escapade lands him in trouble with the law he jets off to Europe until it all blows over.

In addition to Luke's escapades as a classic car thief, and his rivalry with Claudia, who turns out is his sister, there's a side plot involving a woman from the states trying to arrest Luke, and an Italian detective who'd rather hop into the sack with her than help her solve the case. These two are thrown into the plot at random times, almost as comic relief, but it's not funny, and really has very little to do with the movie.

The plot gets even more complicated when you throw in a pretty girl for Luke to fall for, who just so happens to be tied into a ring of car thieves who want the RPM, a revolutionary prototype car. They offer Luke lots of money to steal it, and then up the odds by threatening the pretty girl he's gotten himself attached to. The pretty girl seems almost as an afterthought, they would have done better to offer Luke a way out of his problem in the US, it would have made him just as likely to steal the car.

The whole movie is almost like a train wreck. Not only does the plot jump around and take weird side turns when you least expect it, but the dialog is poor, and the characters seem built on stereotypes and have no personalities of their own. Building interesting, complex characters would have been lost on the script though, it too is built on stereotypes and already well used plot devices.

The only saving grace of the movie was the nice cars. There are a lot of nice classic cars in the movie, and you can momentarily lose yourself in their grace and looks before you're pulled back to realize that the plot stinks, the premise isn't very interesting, and overall it's just a very bad movie. If you insist on watching it, please consider renting or borrowing it instead of purchasing.

I saw this about 5 months ago...and it still irks me that I wasted and hour and a half of my life watching this worse film that ever was produced...it was sooo bad I thought it was a joke and waiting for a punchline somewhere.....who ever rated this more than 1 star....all I can say is.....Gee..I am still speechless!!!..I dont know what to say....I wasted [money amount]on this at [local store]...and pitched it right in the trash after I painfully watched it...

David Arquette does have an offbeat charm that a lot of people find "stupid", but if you've seen his movies and enjoy the way he delivers lines, this movie is for you.

The plot comes right out of a Knight Rider or some other cheesy 80s TV show, but it never takes itself seriously. David Arquette is a goofy guy trying to act tough. That in itself is pretty funny, but I get the impression he's doing it for the comedy. This movie is like a low-budget Bond film with Pee Wee Herman in the James Bond role.

The stunts were equally silly (like the car running up a tunnel wall had "miniature" written all over it). Sure the plot is a bit cheesy but it's fun enough to keep interested, and David Arquette (and the rest of the cast) is hilarious.

Let go of your super-critical mind and just sit back and take it for what it is. I had a blast watching this. It's a guilty pleasure.

I thought this movie was gonna be some what good. but no was that true. this movie had to be one of the worst movies ever. i mean EVER! the only good thing were the cars. the mg the ferrari the lamborghini the old ferrari all those were great cars. the RPM was really poor. it looked like a soda can with tail lights. the acting was very poor. They "f word" if u know what i mean was used way to much. and the whole movie stunk. There was little to no special effects no high speed chase scenes. and the worst thing of all was there were vintage cars that were never showen. The scene where the crook steals the aston martin. and he hot wires it with a second hand of a watch PLEASE! that is not possible. and then he steals it and drives it up a wall onto a tractor trailer. that scene looked like a matchbox car. This will never live up to GONE IN 60 SECONDS. so if you are looking for a good speed/car/good movie go see GONE IN 60 SECONDS not this!

I just have one word to describe this movie........STUPID! Anyone who can even watch this all the way through must have the bran capacity of an infant! FAMKE JANSSEN, for your sake I hope that you made this movie before your career kind of took off. I mean the mopvie does look old in its 1985 looking technicolor. DAVID ARQUETTE pray that they make a Scream 4 or that you dreamed that they killed you in 3000 Miles To Graceland (which is an excellent action film by the way)! Word to consumer:DO NOT EVER WATCH RPM! THE TITLE SHOULD HAVE A CIRCL>E WITH A LINE DRAWN THROUGH IT LIKE A NO SMOKING SIGN! ANY QUESTIONS?

RPM is a film that, despite all its flaws, visibly was never intended
for any other niche audience, than race car voyeurs and the below 12
year old age bracket. Assuming this was RPM's original design, it
suceeded very well in its objective. For all other audiences, despite
the script's promised excitement, it comes up short in entertainment
value as a rental or at the theatres.

The biggest flaw is the selection of the leading actor, who, despite
all his efforts, easy-going personality, articulate physical and
verbal expression, is a poor match for a provokative, photogenic and
spontaneous woman like Famke Janssen, sporting an image of a junior
high school student. Arquette is also paired with the intriguing,
young beauty Emmanuelle Seigner, and somehow this also doesn't seem
entirely appropriate, although not as much.

The leading actor's conduct seems in line with a 17 year old Peter
Sellers, with nervous, amateur acting, lacking subtlety, clearly
inexperienced, relying heavily on personal mannerisms, subjective
tic's that professional actors don't intermix, or confuse with one
another, the personal and the business. Perhaps to cover this up,
after 2/3 of the movie is spent, the Director apparently suggested
to the Arquette to light up a smoke on a regular basis towards the
last 1/3 of the movie, in almost every scene.

The script's dialog, seems not to flow naturally, and this sometimes
results in all of the actors delivering a "wooden" performance or
interaction.

There is no question, that the filming of over 40 or 50 luxury and
rare collection automobiles is fascinating, and innovative for those
who are not mechanics or visitors of race tracks and museums. The
action scenes involving these cars, is successfully done, and those
are the high points of the film.

As for the soundtrack, too often sewage-grade "rock" music was
selected, meaning instruments apparently were handed to amateur
musicians who had trouble coming up with anything minimally
acceptable. This, when coupled with the leading actor's amateur
acting, turns the audience's experience from bad to worse.

What impoverished the film, (aside from the previously mentioned
aspects), is the lack in the story's coherence, logic and free flow
in terms of following it over 90 mins. Also, the special gizmo
allowing the remote control of race cars from 2 km away seems totally
implausible, and for that reason alone is annoying from the fantasy
such a device exists.

The fact that German and French actors were selected, is fine in
itself, except for the difficulty in natural expression in English
for those same actors. The European filming locations actually are
welcomed, however, in the city and countryside action stunt scenes
mainly.

RPM could have redeemed itself, from the cool cars had there been
humor, but the audience will find only 1 or 2 genuine moments for
laughs in the entire work, as most of it misses the mark, or is
clumsily done.

The fact that there is a "narrative" from Arquette, speaking over the
action is the final nail in RPM's coffin, considering the actor was
already a liability.

Overall, RPM as a project had significant potential, but the flaws
already mentioned when added to its many "rough edges" doesn't meet
the audience's standard, despite a high quality cinematography.

For all the folk that were expecting a bargin basement movie that you'd never heard of to be top quality, well, um, you better have a rethink on your expectation list.
Now about the movie. Its totally unrealistic. The premis of the movie is that you have two world class car thieves, a super car that doesn't require gasoline, and two uber-rich and powerful evil guys who don't like each other much. One wants the super car, the other is well, you'll have to watch to find out.
The cars in the movie are beautiful, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Lotus... That alone is worth the lost cost of the film. Throw in Femke and well thats a bonus. Yes the movie is stupid and silly, but its also fun if you approach with the correct mind set. This is a B class movie so dont expect much. Given that, enjoy the show. It really isn't a bad movie for sheer stupidity level.