Director: Gaël Morel
Country of origin and year: France, 1996
Language: French
Subtitles: English (USA R1)
Bonus Features subtitled?: no bonus features, except for a short film, "La Vie à Rebours," which is subtitled

Set in the French countryside, "Full Speed" is a story about a friendship between 4 young persons; Quentin, a writer who has become successful through a recent publication of his book, "À Travers la Nuit"; Jimmy, Quentin's best buddy who has grew up in a disadvantaged background and loves rap music and boxing; , Quentin's girlfriend, Julie, who lives in an upclass vacation home owned by her father, and Samir, an Algerian guy who lost his love, Rick, 2 years earlier. Quentin is back home after a book tour, and he gets together again with Jimmy, and they go out to a nightclub, where Quentin notices Samir checking him out. After a while, he goes after Samir to introduce himself, and they spend the whole evening talking about Samir's tradegic love story with Rick.

Quentin receives word from his publisher that there is a flat at his disposition in Paris where he can write, yet he does not leave. He continues to spend a bit more time with Samir, asking Samir to tell him about his story. As Quentin does a book signing and receives an award in a ceremony in his hometown, we see that he profits off by writing about public concerns, especially about the French racism concerning Algerians. This motive is what also leads Quentin to befriend with Samir, which 'deceives' Samir into thinking that there might be something going on between them. It is obvious that Quentin's writing career takes priority over his friends.

Quentin takes off for Paris, and we see that Julie also has a motive of her own; to be in love with her boyfriend's best buddy, Jimmy. She begins to pursue Jimmy, which at first protests her intentions but eventually accepts her as his lover. As Quentin comes back for a visit, Julie breaks off the relationship with him, which angers Quentin as he storms off to Paris. He has thus abandoned his friends in the countryside, thus leaving them to the elements of the local folks.

It is interesting to have a film addressing several issues such as the political climate of France, especially the racism against the Algerians, homosexuality, and dealing with immediate gratification issues. We see Quentin having the desire to hear people's story in order to profit off from them. Julie is a very passionate person, and with her boyfriend away to Paris, she decides that he can no longer gratify her, thus changing boyfriends. The Algerians want to be treated normally, just as the homosexuals as well. Yet, we see right wingers beating them up, trying to scare them. It is a good movie to watch, and I give it 2 1/2 stars.