Fast Girls is an Olympics cash-in, that wasn’t allowed to be an Olympics cash-in. They were banned from using the words “Olympics” “London” and “2012”, so instead the girls in question are training to compete in the fictional 2011 World Championships.
Fast Girls is co-written by Noel Clarke, who stars as the girls coach and directed by newcomer Regan Hall.
The film is billed as a comedy/drama, however, it is not quite funny enough to be a comedy or dramatic enough for the drama genre.
It stars Lenora Crichlow (Being Human) as Shania, a talented sprinter from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ who is approached by relay coach, Tommy (Clarke) to join the team. Unsurprisingly, she’s not a team player.
It was great and refreshing to see a British production with strong female leads. Fast Girls opens well but soon descends into a cliché ridden film. The romance between Shania and Carl never quite feels real and the movie quickly falls back on the staples we’ve seen so many times, in so many films. Noel Clarke puts in a rather bland performance, almost as if he wasn’t meant to play Tommy and the original actor cast didn’t turn up. Phil Davis has little more than a cameo, as Shania’s original coach and that is quite frankly a complete waste of his talent. At times the film does engage the audience, but you may have drifted off by the time you get to the predictable “feel good” climax.
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- Behind the Scenes: Cast Training/ Costume Design/ The Relay/ Fast Girl Championship/ Night Shoot.
- Interviews: Lenora Chrichlow/ Lily Jame/ Noel Clarke/ Bradley James/ Regan Hall/ Rupert Graves/ Lorraine Burroughs/ Lashana Lynch/ Dominique Tipper/ Damian Jones/ Ben Rimmer/ Shani Anderson/ Jeanette Kwakye.
- Trailer