'Furious 7': Makes Six Too Many

By Michael S. GoldbergeriBerkshires Film Critic
Print Story | Email Story

Popcorn Column
by Michael S. Goldberger  

Universal Pictures 
The Fast and Furious family's latest road trip is a retread of explosions, speed and gunfire. But this one's got cars falling out of the sky! So it's totally different!

Trying to figure out the renegade ethos that Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and his "team" are trying to exemplify in the frenetically action-packed "Furious 7" leaves me at a loss. Still, I'm going to have a go at it anyway ... but not for diehard fans of this hot-rodding franchise that has skidded miserably off course. Devotees couldn't care less what this O.G. (Old Gangsta) thinks about their choice of entertainment. Nope, this is in the service of auto enthusiasts and anyone who feels being well-rounded means having at least a tangential knowledge of popular culture.

"The Fast and the Furious (2001)," certainly not Shakespeare but at least fresh and unsullied, paid slick and informative homage to the new breed of gearhead: young folks who exercise their passion by hopping-up inexpensive, used Japanese imports. Reflecting the changing landscape of automobilia in general, eking relatively big horsepower from low displacement engines, was the new way to go ... literally and figuratively. Adding a fictional component to this basic chassis, the film delved into the then current world of illegal street racers.

out of 4

Thus was sown the initial enmity and ensuing mutual admiration between tough guy racer Toretto and the late Paul Walker's goody-two-shoes L.A. cop, Brian O'Conner, originally assigned to infiltrate the speedsters. In succeeding editions, the "Furious" idea succumbed to the same fate that befalls a breakthrough car when the designers can't top the germinal creativity. With cars it means lots of chrome and adulteration of the original curves. In drama, it means shifting into soap opera mode.

Gosh, there's even an amnesia angle here as Dominic's gal, Letty, played by Michelle Rodriguez, forgets almost everything except how to stomp down on the accelerator. In fact, she's a legend at the racetrack. It's all part of the two concurrently running love stories, which now play second string to the tale of international derring-do that dominates the "Furious" product. The only question to answer with each succeeding issue is, "Just how much more insanely ludicrous is this one?"

The short answer is, "a lot." The long answer is, "a whole lot." This go-round, the gang has to fend off an oath of vengeance from Jason Statham's class-A villain, Deckard Shaw. You see, Toretto & Company previously rendered comatose the evildoer's almost-as-evil brother. But y'know, we have a sneaky suspicion that this scourge, a rogue, former black op for the Brits, would find a reason to kill everyone in sight even if he didn't have a brother. Such is his charm.

But have no fear. While I won't tell you the final score, our down-home, American-raised gaggle of multicultural ragtag fringe folk are up to the task, each member a self-taught specialist in some field that contributes to the group's cool quotient. It's a curious conceit, but nothing new. Scratch the cliché just a tad and there you have the East Side Kids/Bowery Boys led by Leo Gorcey's Muggs McGinnis. Our 1940s version of street ruffian, they are counterculture patriots. Preposterous or not, in "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943) they thwart Nazi spies. They're also funny.


Too bad this contemporary permutation takes itself so seriously. "I don't have friends; I have family," Toretto apprises an adversary with sanctimonious smugness. He and his are the outcast nobility. They are secretly believers in the American Dream, but only if it can be achieved through their code of values. The status quo? As Brando's Johnny in "The Wild One" (1953) appraised, "That's square, man." Denied the straight and narrow, ostensibly by humble birth, dysfunction or an amalgam of both, it makes them, like Johnny, cynically starry-eyed.

Therein lies the adolescent appeal, an invitation to identify with these motley comrades who cut through life's red tape with Devil-may-care disregard for convention. The other attraction is, of course, the violence. It is no longer enough to dangerously race cars through the streets. Like substance addiction, the thrill level bar has been raised. Here, flivvers go flying off cliffs and diving through towering high risers with a redolence of past real-life tragedies hard to dismiss.

Oh, the plot ... I almost forgot. It really can't help but get obfuscated by all the boom, boom, boom and pretentious prattle. But in any case, good guys, bad guys and the gray folk in-between are all after the God's eye chip, a little bit of inscribed silicon that'll enable its possessor to track down anybody in the world quicker than you can say Big Brother. So that's it for Waldo.

Those who enjoy this sort of visual and aural cacophony will certainly get their money's worth: one hundred and thirty seven minutes of it. As for us car buffs who will only find minor solace in the eclectic array of hot machines (Dominic et al. driving mostly American ... the villains in foreign makes), "Furious 7" reminds that we were left in the dust after the inaugural edition.

"Furious 7," rated PG-13, is a Universal Pictures release directed by James Wan and stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jason Statham. Running time: 137 minutes

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories