On the Go
Dark Comedy Never Slows Down

Starting with the rapid, music-video editing of the opening shot, it is apparent that Go is going to be a very bumpy ride. From the drug scene in L.A. to the pitfalls of Las Vegas, this movie shows a dark world filled with danger. But even through drugs and violence are nothing to laugh about, the horrifying circumstances that come to play are oddly amusing.

Go attempts to tell the film from several different points of view, much in the same way Pulp Fiction did. It begins with Ronna (Sarah Polley), a teenage checkout girl at the local grocery who can't pay her rent and faces eviction. When two guys come into the store looking to buy drugs, she sees an opportunity to increase her income. She drags her friends Mannie (Nathan Bexton) and Claire (Katie Holmes) into her plan, using Claire as collateral on her drug buy. Of course, Ronna doesn't really understand the consequences of what she is getting into.

But as the story of Ronna's poor career choice is played out, the story rewinds and follows Simon (Desmond Askew) who has road-tripped with his buddies to Las Vegas. While Ronna's story is one of drugs, Simon's is about sex and violence. Then the story flips to Adam (Scott Wolf, television's "Party of Five") and Zack (Jay Mohr), the guys who started the whole story by asking Ronna if they could buy drugs from her.

The twists and turns in Go will keep the audience interested once the movie gets off the ground. The beginning is slow, but the story picks up quickly after the major characters are introduced. While none of the characters are exactly protagonists, we do root for them despite their faults. Ronna's only fault is that she's inexperienced, but Simon is an idiot who seems to cause trouble wherever he goes.

Despite the rather large cast, the acting is nothing to shout about. None of the performances were outstanding. In fact, I'd say at most they were functional. William Fichtner was probably the best, as Burke, a cop using Zack and Adam to trap drug dealers. A brief appearance by Jane Krakowski was also a welcome surprise.

The fast-paced editing lends itself well to the story. The scenes of Mannie tripping are well done, making the audience disoriented by his perceptions. The quick editing also works well in the Vegas part of the story, where the flashing lights and neon add to the weirdness going on there.

For mature film aficionados, it's an interesting dark comedy. I think it should be obvious from the details of the review that Go is not a movie for kids, but it's also not a movie for teens. The themes of drug use, violence, and sex are promoted without consequence, which is the main thing about the movie that bothered me.

MY RATING: 7 out of 10.

RATED: R
RUN TIME: 103 min.