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      Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

      1997, Documentary, 1h 20m

      32 Reviews 2,500+ Ratings

      What to know

      Critics Consensus

      Made with a care and patience that belies its title, Errol Morris' Fast, Cheap & Out of Control combines the disparate sensibilities of four idiosyncratic subjects to present a fresh, cogent perspective on life. Read critic reviews

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      Fast, Cheap & Out of Control  Photos

      Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997) Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997) Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997) Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997) Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)

      Movie Info

      In this documentary by Errol Morris, four men with unique vocations are interviewed. There's Dave Hoover, a lion tamer; George Mendonça, a topiary gardener; Ray Mendez, a hairless mole rat expert; and Rodney Brooks, a robotics designer. Using a special camera called the Interrotron, each of these men is able to talk about his obsession seemingly directly to the audience, while Morris inter-cuts the interviews with stock footage and movie clips that are used to draw connections between them all.

      • Rating: PG

      • Genre: Documentary

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Errol Morris

      • Producer: Errol Morris

      • Release Date (Theaters):  wide

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Box Office (Gross USA): $861.6K

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Video, Sony Pictures Classics

      • Production Co: American Playhouse

      • Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital

      • Aspect Ratio: 35mm

      Cast & Crew

      Critic Reviews for Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

      Audience Reviews for Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

      • Apr 03, 2013

        A documentary profiling four unlikely subjects: a lion tamer, a topiary master, a naked mole-rat expert, and a robot designer. Each of these craftsmen is somewhat interesting on their own, but what makes the documentary work is the way unexpected connections start to arise between a quartet with very different obsessions.

        Super Reviewer
      • Mar 19, 2010

        A intriguing and entertaining documentary film about four men and their passions - lion taming, robotics, topiary and mole rats. Thefilm lets the men speak for themselves - there's no "directors narrative" telling you what to think - and the visuals and the voiceovers of the four subject areas interlink at times... .so you might be watching a lion tamer but listening to a hedge cutter (and damned if you can tell the difference between the four sometimes). I THINK the film is all about the interconnectedness between, well, everything - animal, vegetable and mineral - but I 'm not really sure. Watching this film was like struggling to grasp a nugget of wisdom that's being held tantalisingly just out of reach.

        Super Reviewer
      • Nov 14, 2009

        This is more of a documentary then it is a movie but it was an entry in the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival Special Presentations. What we have here is a montage of four different people, and the stories go on within each other continuously. The four people are a topiary gardener who has a hedge in the shape of a giraffe and is as big as one, a robot engineer who has some pretty neat robots for 1997, a naked mole-rat expert and these are some ugly critters and I wish I could find someone to send me to Africa to study a rat, but I rather go to Italy) and a lion tamer who knew Clyde Beatty so he says and he's been attacked so many times but not a scare on him. All in all it made for a pretty boring movie for me anyway, but you just might find an interest in the Naked Mole Rat, My only interest is he don't end up in my Home. 2 Stars

        Super Reviewer
      • Jul 03, 2008

        A well-structured doc that blends insects-animals-humans-robots in an interesting way. Raises good questions and makes strong points. For the most part, I was intrigued, but the plant animal/topiary guy was a bit dull.

        Super Reviewer

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