Cut to the Chase
If you’re claustrophobic, you probably shouldn’t watch this movie. And for an action/ car chase thriller, the car gets tantalisingly little screen time. But there’s another character that steals the show from the getaway car—the man behind its wheel. Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy, Warrior et al) plays a getaway driver for whom nothing goes right—in crime or in family life—in the newly released Netflix original Wheelman. Debut director Jeremy Rush does a lot differently, consciously breaking from the conventions of the car chase thriller by framing most of the movie inside the car. Like Tom Hardy in Locke, Grillo delivers an almost film-long monologue on the phone.
The movie begins with a shot of the dashboard as Grillo takes delivery of the getaway car, a “nondescript” black BMW E46 M3 with a red boot. From then on, every shot is framed with a part of the car in it, while the sound design emphasises the atmosphere and helps immerse you in the situation. When Grillo is forced to leave behind the people pulling off the heist, it’s shots of Grillo’s expressions, his hand as he shifts gears, the tyres burning rubber as he peels out of the parking lot.
This is how the film builds tension, relying on Grillo’s expressions, F-bombs and tight shots as the heist goes from wrong to nuclear. The pace ramps up with quicker cuts. We never hear the voices on the other end of the phone, whether they be the mystery callers forcing Grillo’s hand, or the guy who set up the deal, or his wife or his kid.
It’s only well into the second half of the movie that the frame expands beyond the car’s interior to reveal more of the plot (and hero car #2, a vintage Porsche 911), as the wheelman hero saves his family and double crosses the wrong kind of guys. By the time this happens, it’s almost a relief that things are coming to a head. And that really is the mark of a thriller done well. Much more than an action/ car chase flick like The Transporter, Wheelman delivers white-knuckle suspense. But keep a paper bag handy if you’re prone to hyperventilating.
In Wheelman, Frank Grillo is a getaway driver for whom nothing goes right