Geek Review: Fast & Feel Love

The font is the same one, and the poster filled with multiple characters looks familiar, and then there’s the name – Fast & Feel Love – which sounds like an intentional mispronunciation of Fast & Furious?  Is it a Thai comedy romance, or a spoof of the beloved action franchise about street racing and out-of-this-world heists?

Well, considering how Thai filmmakers are known for their creativity, and telling stories that are universally relatable, it’s only fair to go into the theatre with an open mind, so who would have thought that a movie supposedly about sport stacking is actually a tale about life and how we can make the best of it?

Remember Anna Kendrick’s “Cups” audition in Jason Moore’s Pitch Perfect (2012)? Well, that was cute but the real deal here is sport stacking, also known as cup stacking or speed stacking, a competitive sport that involves stacking nine or 12 specially-designed cups in pre-determined sequences as fast as possible. Go search for clips online and be thrilled by the speed that will make The Flash and Quicksilver proud.

This Thai tale, directed by Ter Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, follows protagonist Kao (Nat Kitcharit), a student who spends lots of time on sport stacking. Naturally, he excels in it and becomes quite a celebrity. Along comes Jay (Yaya Urassaya Sperbund), his later-girlfriend who devotes her time to ensuring that he gets full concentration to practise the sport, so that he can become a world champion.

Years pass, and the couple are in their 30s. They have a beautiful house and a seemingly perfect life, but all we see is Kao in his practice room being obsessed with beating the world sport stacking record. Meanwhile, Jay is beginning to realise that she has wasted too many years taking care of her partner, without sparing any time for herself.

While the plot of Fast and Feel Love sounds like a serious drama, it’s anything but. The comedy is filled with many sequences that draw chuckles with its deadpan humour, and the gags happen at the most unexpected moments, courtesy of the hilarious supporting cast that includes Kao’s straight-faced housekeeper (Potae Anusara Korsamphan), his cynical sport stacking manager (Primmy Wipawee Patnasiri), and a know-it-all student (Pleng Keetapat Pongruea).

The breaking of the fourth wall – more noticeably when Kao starts to speak to the audience – further brings out the humour in such scenes. Case in point: at the halfway mark of the 132-minute movie, Kao laments about how there still hasn’t been many sport stacking scenes – cue all-around laughter. 

What’s most impressive about Fast and Feel Love is how the director pays homage to countless of his (and our) favourite films, so watch out for nods to classics including Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019) and Irvin Kershner’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), as well as references to classic movie characters like Ip Man from Donnie Yen’s martial arts franchise, and Li Mu Bai from Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Some may find these scenes cheesy, but we think they make for pretty neat love letters to some classic titles. 

Ending on a bittersweet note, the movie is ultimately an exploration of how life takes a turn as we grow older. As much as we are passionate about the dreams we once had, there are problems to tackle and responsibilities to fulfill as we progress in life. This movie is about that, and like life itself, the narrative is filled with surprising twists that make it worth the watch.