Burn Out is a 2019 action film about a man who must use his motorcycle talents for drug deliveries in order to save those he loves.
You’d probably be hard pressed to name a movie soley about motorcycles, though no doubt, if you’re any kind of film fan, could easily make a list of your top motorcycle movie moments. Most would probably involve Tom Cruise or (hopefully) Steve McQueen. Either way, in at full throttle to this mix is Yann Gozlan‘s two-wheeled French thriller (now dubbed into English for Netflix) Burn Out, a competently made and often adrenaline-stomping chase flick that may not find any off ramps to innovation but does manage to do as promised and deliver the goods.
Tony (François Civil) is a solid rider on the circuit, a promising racer in need of a real sponsor. He gets an opportunity of a lifetime when asked to join a team and thinks it might be the thing to finally make a name for himself. Meanwhile, he’s trying to fix his relationship with Leyla (Manon Azem), the mother of his young son, she unfortunately getting herself wound up in some serious trouble with drug runners. In debt after the last stash got stolen, she’s beaten and given an ultimatum, needing Tony to help. He makes a deal to smuggle for her, using his bike for a couple of months, hoping to keep them both alive.
While the lackluster dubbing doesn’t do a thing in delivering any kind of suspense or even a bit of authenticy (I highly recommend you stick to the French and read the subtitles), there’s a pretty decent movie here for speed junkies and action enthusiasts. Civil does great work in a perfuctory role, forced into service to protect the woman he loves. And yeah, that’s old hat we’ve seen dozens of times before, yet there’s an earnestness to the effort that really works in its favor.
What’s more, the bike sequences are great fun, with plenty of tight, in-your-face road rage that should fire up those taken by such. Gozlan builds a decent amount of tension around the paper thin story, keeping the dialogue at a minimum and the visuals charged, especially in the second half when things crank up. It’s this spartan economy of words versus action that has the best effect, the film an absolute powerhouse when the music kicks in and we saddle up with Tony as he cuts though the streets on a Ducati.
My quibble is probably unnecessary but worth pointing out, that there’s just no investment in anyone in the story, we knowing nearly nothing of Leyla, her son, and the ruthless gang of crime lords pulling the strings. This is a story of simple moving parts only, the grease behind it utterly ignored. Accepting that, this does its job well, telling a rugged, high-speed fight for survival behind the handlebars of a high performance bike. Recommended.