The racing film genre is saturated with predictable narratives. It’s a challenge to carve out a fresh storyline amid the familiar pedal-to-the-metal plots. However, One Fast Move by Kelly Blatz offers a unique perspective. While motorcycling undoubtedly takes center stage, the film’s core is about forging familial bonds. Wes, a young man yearning to follow in his absentee father’s racing footsteps, finds himself at a pivotal moment. His pursuit of motorcycling dreams intersects with an unexpected opportunity to reconnect with his estranged father and build a new family with a single mother named Camila.
Crafting compelling sports dramas, especially those involving high-octane action like racing, is a formidable challenge. Films like Rush and Ford v Ferrari have set an exceptionally high bar for storytelling in this genre. One Fast Move distinguishes itself by prioritizing family dynamics over racing spectacle. However, the film’s potential is somewhat hindered by its reluctance to delve deeper into character development. While the focus on family relationships is refreshing, a more substantial exploration of the characters’ backstories and motivations could have elevated the film beyond a generic sports drama.
Despite its shortcomings, One Fast Move is worth a one-time watch. While the racing sequences are entertaining enough, the film truly shines in its exploration of the complex father-son dynamic between Dane and Apa’s characters. Their on-screen chemistry is undeniable, even as their characters’ flaws often make them unlikeable. Olmos’ portrayal of Abel is a standout, injecting heartfelt emotion into the narrative. Unfortunately, the script’s predictability and lackluster dialogue hinder the film’s overall impact. Wes, in particular, is a deeply unsympathetic character, making it difficult for viewers to connect with his journey.
There is additionally an unnecessary romantic subplot involving Reficco’s character, Camila. It would not have felt that way if the characters had been written more carefully. Given the underdeveloped on-screen chemistry between the characters, their relationship lacks depth and resonance. The film’s heavy-handed approach to themes of parental separation and father-son dynamics feels forced, as these are inherently relatable experiences.
One Fast Move would have been more enjoyable if it had been lighter, especially during racing scenes. Overall, it fails to deliver the intended emotional impact. Whether Wes can harmonize his love life, fatherhood, and aspirations remains a question mark. Before speculating further, let’s examine the plot in greater detail.
One Fast Move (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“One Fast Move” opens with Wes racing to a military base for money. He gets caught by the police and spends six months in jail. When he is finally out, he goes to see Dean racing. After the race, he confronts Dean, saying that he knows Wes’s mother, Laura. Dean soon understands that Wes is his son. They agree to have a few beers, though Wes doesn’t feel like talking. Later, Wes expresses his desire to be a racer like Dean. Dean gives him a reality check. But since Wes is hard to put down, he decides to give him a chance in the circuit.
Fate intervenes on Wes’s first day behind the wheel, a high-speed crash during a turn underscoring Dean’s earlier assessment of his son’s racing aptitude. At that moment, Wes says that he does not have any job. Moreover, when he came out of jail, he had very little money with him. Deep inside, he knows that racing is the only thing he is capable of doing. Therefore, he is eager to pursue his dream more than ever because he has nothing else to do right now. Dean understands his situation and gives him another opportunity. Taking on the mantle of coach, Dean forcefully challenges Wes’s existing knowledge of motorcycling, asserting that everything he thought he knew is fundamentally flawed.
Why do Camila and Wes Break Up?
Soon after Dean starts training Wes, he meets a local girl in a cafe. Wes falls for her immediately and asks her out. He learns that her name is Camila, and soon, they hit it off. Meanwhile, Wes participates in his first-ever amateur race. He wins the race by showing off his special talent for riding a motorbike.
Dean also takes pride in coaching him. Later, he sees Camila hanging out with Wes for the first time. Initially unimpressed by Camila, Wes unexpectedly finds himself drawn to her, and their connection deepens into something far more intimate. One of these days, Wes learns that Camila is a single mother. She apologizes to Wes for not letting him know about this sooner. Wes does not mind that, as they become friends in no time.
During this period, Abel, who used to be Dean’s trainer, offers Wes a job in his shop because he knows that Wes needs some money. Abel develops a strong fondness for Wes, viewing him as a surrogate grandson due to his deep paternal connection with Dean. Abel teaches him how to make his own bike with all the modifications he must learn. Soon, Wes becomes a potential champion.
Dean starts seeing him in the professional circuits. But Abel wants to slow things down. During his second race, Dean gets into a fight with his rival because their rider is cheating in the race. Since Dean was involved, Wes, too, gets involved in the fighting right in front of Camila and her son. This makes her turn back and walk away from Wes.
Why does Wes End up fighting with Dean?
Wes’s attempt at reconciliation with Camila comes too late, as she’s already made the painful decision to end their relationship. Dean, on the other hand, spats with Abel as Abel becomes frustrated with Dean’s lifestyle. He says that since he had started the fight, it had potentially destroyed Abel’s reputation in the circuit. With a touch of finality, Dean informs Abel that they’ll be leaving the shop to focus on professional racing, implying that their reliance on him is coming to an end.
Later, Dean convinces Wes about two things: one is that they do not need Abel anymore, and the other is that Camila will always come up in between his dreams of becoming a biker, so he must not let her influence his thoughts. When Wes goes to talk to Abel about leaving his shop, Abel understands that Dean has manipulated him into this. He has already told Wes about not following Dean’s lifestyle, which is surrounded by booze and girls. Since Wes is a grown-up, Abel can’t do much about what he decides anyway.
Around this time, Wes feels pretty worked up since he has no job right now. Even Camila is gone, and he sees Dean, his own father, who is not concerned with any of this except for the glory. Wes now understands that Dean does not want Wes to succeed. In fact, he wants to achieve the pride that he never was able to achieve. This is why he is forcing Wes to participate in the professional circuits, even though both Abel and Wes himself thought they were pushing very fast.
So, when the frustration finally takes over one night, Wes confronts Dean. Dean rejects the idea of using Wes as a ladder to his own success. Finally, the rage consumes him, and Wes blames Dean for leaving him even before his birth. Dean screams at him, accusing him of being unfit for responsibility, consumed as he was by the dream of racing glory. Believing his racing dream would be irrevocably shattered, he’d walked away from Wes’s mother.
One Fast Move (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How Does Wes Manage to Keep Both Dean and Camila in His Life?
Before he fights with Dean, Wes goes to Camila to negotiate their terms. But he soon learns that Dean has already told Camila about him being sent to jail. Camila thought that Wes had gone to jail because of fighting. But when she learned the truth, the circumstances did not change much for Wes. Wes then realizes that Dean was right all along about Camila being an obstacle in his path to achieving his goal. The couple decides to go their separate ways. Later that night, Wes fights with Dean, leaves the house, and burns the bike Dean gave him to practice.
The police catch him during the act. The following morning, Abel bails him out. He takes Wes to his home. Soon he gives him one of the bikes he had acquired during his tenure. Dean comes to meet with Wes, and they reconcile as the father apologizes to the son for abandoning him. Dean stops interfering in Wes’s life as Abel asks Wes about Camila. He tells him that she is gone and is not going to come back anytime soon. Right before the race, Wes realizes that Dean is participating as a racer, too.
Dean confides that Wes had helped him appreciate life’s small victories, a realization that brought a surprising sense of peace. Wes, in turn, finds joy in his father’s newfound contentment. As the race begins, Wes sees Camila in the stands, supporting him, all thanks to Abel. Perhaps he is the one responsible for bringing her in. Wes feels a surge of hope, convinced that regardless of the race outcome, he can maintain strong bonds with both Dean and Camila.
Who Wins the Final Race?
The race begins, and after a few laps, only two racers remain for the final lap—Wes and Dean. Dean had imparted all his racing knowledge to Wes, who is now putting it to the test. However, since Dean knows all the tricks, it becomes very hard for Wes to get past him in order to secure the first position. Wes executes a surprise maneuver, forcing Dean to defend the inside lane before explosively taking the outside, a tactic honed to perfection under his father’s tutelage. This forces Dean to lose his concentration as he sees Wes go past him.
All of a sudden, things take a serious turn as Dean loses control of his bike. A gruesome accident takes place, resulting in the complete destruction of the bike. Wes finishes the race as the winner but comes back to the place of the accident. He sees the bike burning and fears that something terrible might have happened. Luckily, Dean survived the crash. He looks at Wes and smiles. Wes sees the pride in his father’s eyes as he realizes that Dean is just as happy as he is right now since, one way or another, they both are winners.
