Speed Kills (2018)

Elevator Pitch: Ben Aronoff moves with his family from New York to Miami, possibly to avoid prosecution. Once there he becomes involved in speed boat racing and starts a company building the craft. He enters races and becomes a winner and hence a successful businessman. He is not a faithful husband and spies a woman who he fancies, resulting in his divorce. He sells speed boats to drug smugglers and unwillingly is forced to become involved in underworld activities. His involvement in crime eventually result in his murder (We know because that’s how the film starts).

Content: There is a bit of implied sex without overt nudity. Ben is seen with his family. He becomes enthusiastic about speed boats. Most of the film taken up with pictures of speed boats dashing along, some of them obviously news reel footage. Ben spies Emily Gowen a good looking model and romances her. Tense meetings with mob bosses take place.

A View: Apparently following the life of a real speed boat racer, Don Aronow but not very well. I think John Travolta does the grouchy mob boss pretty well, but we were required to suspend our disbelief as the 20 year period of Ben’s life was portrayed just be changing his wigs. I liked the idea of a study of a speed boat racer, but obviously there is a challenge, how to make the races exciting. In this they were unsuccessful and since there is little else to the story it was dire. It is one of those films which I watched so that you don’t have to.

Here are three other John Travolta films which you might choose to miss (not quite sure why I’m doing this): Swordfish, Gotti, The Forger .