It was quite a surreal experience as I sat in the BFI Southbank, a somewhat apprehensive feeling ahead of the first press showing for London Film Festival 2022, however, an exciting one nonetheless. The first film on my schedule was Fast & Feel Love, from writer/director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, and what a film it is.
The following review contains spoilers.
Fast & Feel Love follows Kao (Nat Kitcharit) whose mission to become sport-stacking world champion is hindered by a ten-year-old rival and his own immaturity in this madcap sports underdog spoof. The film is a comedy, which is all I needed prior to watching the film, but it has themes of growing up, and maturing which kept me invested.
Never once have I cup-stacked, but after watching this – I for sure want to.
Throughout the film, Thamrongrattanarit uses parody to provide laughs. Whether that be Kao directly quoting Anakin Skywalker, ridiculing the Fast and Furious franchise for what it is, or an almost shot-for-shot parody of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, every small detail of parody was perfect. You could say it was stacked up perfectly. I am a big fan of the use of parody, and have been for quite some time. I’d argue rather than directly making fun of things, Fast & Feel Love uses parody to increase the audience’s enjoyment.
What this film does extremely well is making fun of situations that arguably should not be funny. For instance, in the film’s final act, Kao and Jay (Urassaya Sperbund) go their separate ways and Nawapol shows this separation in the style of Furious 7’s famous scene which sees Vin Diesel’s and Paul Walker’s characters drive off in different directions to each other to Charlie Puth’s “See You Again”. I was laughing so much, at the awful parody song – it was incredible.
The film places Kao against Edward (Joshua Ugochukwu Ezunagu), a younger cup-stacking rival who frequently calls Kao to intimidate him, in a similar vein to that of a Bond villain. The irony is, Edward is a child and it just makes the whole thing 10 times funnier. The Edward plotline adds a sort of tension to the plot, helping you root for Kao as he attempts to achieve the title of the “best cup-stacker” in the world. It is incredibly entertaining, to say the least.
The film has some clear pacing issues, and the love story side of things does add a lot of unwarranted screen time. I do think Nawapol could have taken a good 15-20 from the film’s runtime of 2 hours 15 minutes. However, “Love” is in the title, and I wouldn’t want it to be completely disregarded from the film as there are some tender, and heartwarming moments with the young couple.
I’ve never watched a Thai film prior to Fast & Feel Love, and look forward to the next film I do watch. Perhaps I’ll dive into some more of Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s work, who knows.
‘Fast & Feel Love’ – Final Thoughts
Fast & Feel Love is a high-energy, celebration of movies whilst also being it’s own individual story. From parody, to cup-stacking, to love – it has i’s all and makes for a really enjoyable watch with lots of laughs guaranteed.
Kao, a thirty-something-year-old man, is the world’s fastest sport-stacking champion who is being challenged by kids around the world trying to break his world record. In the midst of this, Kao’s long-time girlfriend, who has taken care of him and everything else in his life, decides to end their relationship. Like Batman without his Alfred, the king in the world of sport stacking becomes a complete loser in real life. While Kao must keep up with up-and-coming stacking challengers, this glorious champ also needs to learn basic daily life skills. Whether it be laundry, mopping, ironing, grocery shopping, fixing the water pump or other trivial daily tasks. These simple chores for general people become uphill struggles for this sport-stacking master. Yet, the most difficult task of all for him is figuring out how to win back his girlfriend’s heart.
