Aaron Paul stars in "Need for Speed."

It’s nearly impossible for Aaron Paul to outrun his transcendent portrayal of Jesse Pinkman in “Breaking Bad,” even when behind the wheel of the world’s fastest Bugatti. In “Need For Speed,” a more built Paul speaks in a growly and lower register than that of Jesse and does his best to avoid the character’s emotional polarity—in short, he tries to embrace the trappings of a classic leading man. Even with these alterations, Paul seems a bit too eccentric to exude the confidence of most action movie stars. His relative failure to eschew his previous vulnerability and nervous energy saves his film from drowning in its own flamboyant storyline and cinematography. Bombastic race sequences and the frenetic pace of the plot, while technically impressive and consistently exhilarating, are often too big and familiar. The sweeping and gratuitous tracking shots of helicopters, explosions, and impossibly beautiful race locales are all offset by Paul’s range. Although “Need for Speed” often dips into the trite clichés of bloated car movies, Paul’s taut and varied performance as Tobey Marshall buoys the picture and adds personality to its pulpy fun.

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“Need for Speed” could be divided into two movies. The first is a collection of interlaced vignettes that ramp up the initial adrenaline while offering scattershot exposition. Director Scott Waugh, a former stuntman and relative newcomer to big-budget directing, isn’t one for slow burning conversation. He jerks the focus quickly from introductions of Marshall’s amiable entourage of fellow auto mechanics to tense interactions with Paul’s nemesis, the slimy and repellant Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) to a visceral street race through their hometown of Mt. Kisco, New York. The climax of this first portion, an ill-fated highway race between Marshall, Brewster, and Marshall’s younger brother, results in the brother’s fiery death at the hands of Brewster’s cheap right-bumper knock. The moment, while still powerful because of Paul’s raw reaction to the inferno (and his subsequent framing by Brewster for the crime), would be more devastating had the narrative spent less time in constant flux; the brother, played by baby-faced Australian newcomer Harrison Gilbertson, is sympathetic but not developed enough to beg any legitimate grief.        

If the first hour of the film has the panache and efficiency of the video game narrative from which the movie gets its name, then the second half is its opposite: an expansive Bonnie and Clyde cross-country odyssey with Paul, who has been recently released from prison after serving time for his brother’s death, and the sexy caretaker of the car he has finagled for competition in a massive Californian street race, “The De Leon.” The chemistry between Paul and the appealing and brave Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots) is initially slow, but quickly gains traction over the course of their journey west. The writers impressively juxtapose increasingly ridiculous situations (They just got towed over the Grand Canyon by a helicopter! They just jumped five lanes of traffic! They just made seven State Troopers crash into each other!) with subtly flirty dialogue and body language. The development of the romance between the two is restrained and sweet enough to provide ample respite from the chases against time and the law on their way to San Francisco.

The presence, or lack thereof, of the police is one of the film’s most frustrating drawbacks. Occasionally, cop cars will arrive in bulk, offering intense chases and undertones of paranoia. At other moments, however, the concern of being caught fades away entirely; at one point Marshall parks his car, by this point federally-flagged and a subject of national news, in front of the posh and central Mark Hopkins hotel in downtown San Francisco without issue. Waugh and his writers’ choice to use the police as periodic villains is understandable enough, as the film would drag far more if there weren’t moments of fun entirely unconcerned with incarceration. Their lack of presence, however, makes them a far less threatening and thus less striking foe. Additionally, the cops often act as a reminder of how ridiculous and dangerous Marshall and company’s racing is in the first place. After several lethal-looking highway pileups caused by Marshall’s evasions, it can be hard to root for the street racers.

The rest of the cast can be likened to the racing scenes in the film. They are many in number and mostly entertaining, but also hard to follow and emotionally shallow. Benny (Scott Mencusi, better known as rapper Kid Cudi), jokes extensively about twerking and pilots a seemingly endless arsenal of flying devices that save Marshall and Maddon from police and bounty hunters. All of Marshall’s friends have similar gimmicks and communicate in tired and outmoded bro-machismo putdowns. In spite of the extraneous fluff, the film retains its octane until the end. When Marshall eventually starts to taste revenge, the slightly twisted grin on his face is irresistible.

—Staff writer David J. Kurlander can be reached at david.kurlander@thecrimson.com.