This low budget suspense thriller is a great example of what more low budget filmmakers should strive for. Throttle is a solid idea underlying a well thought out story and brought to life by a capable cast and crew. It's got just enough sizzle to hold the audience's attention and just enough substance to make them care about how things turn out. It's neither self-indulgent nor self-referential and it doesn't try too hard. This is a good and solid piece of entertainment.
Tom Weaver (Grayson McCouch) works at a financial company. He seems to have a great job and a beautiful wife named Molly (Amy Locane). It's not all that it seems, though. Tom thinks his wife is cheating on him and he's about to conspire with his smarmy co-worker Gavin (Adrian Paul) on a scheme to steal 10 million dollars and transfer it into offshore accounts. Tom and Gavin meet one night at their offices to pull off the scam and seemingly succeed. But then Tom finds himself trapped in the bottom level of the building's underground parking garage, pursued by a man in a souped-up black truck who wants to kill Tom and anyone else who gets in his way.
It wouldn't be far off to say this movie is like Duel in a parking garage. However, Throttle does not make the classic mistake of being nothing but a clever concept. Good stories generally have secondary conflicts and relationships woven through and around the concept, in this case it being Tom's relationship with Molly and his inner conflict over the criminal act he's committed. Those elements not only flesh out the film so it's more than a guy running hither and yon in fear of his life, they also give you a reason to care about the guy and whether or not he gets killed. Too many movies simply assume the audience's interest in their main character and never give you any reason to identify with him or root for her to succeed.
Throttle also looks very good. In fairness, this isn't all that cheap a production as low budget filmmaking goes. There's more stunt work and destruction here than could be paid for with a couple of credit cards. But no matter how much money you have and no matter what level of skill you possess, you can always make things look good by working within your limitations. This film has just a few action sequences and the rest is good camera placement and sharp editing. A lot of the shots are pretty basic, but they're arranged and executed with talent and vision. Visuals don't have to be complex to be compelling. These filmmakers take maximum advantage of their parking garage setting and something as ordinary as bright light to create some impressive imagery.
Now, it's not like the movie is perfect. It indulges in too many flashbacks, particularly ones that remind us of stuff previously shown in the film. The killer also has way too much motivation and spends too much time explaining it all. There's also an unnecessary does of extra drama squeezed into the conclusion.
Throttle is an exciting and scary tale told with a little intelligence and a lot of craft. The people who made this movie are people who should make movies for a living. You can't say that about many low budget filmmakers.
Tom Weaver (Grayson McCouch) works at a financial company. He seems to have a great job and a beautiful wife named Molly (Amy Locane). It's not all that it seems, though. Tom thinks his wife is cheating on him and he's about to conspire with his smarmy co-worker Gavin (Adrian Paul) on a scheme to steal 10 million dollars and transfer it into offshore accounts. Tom and Gavin meet one night at their offices to pull off the scam and seemingly succeed. But then Tom finds himself trapped in the bottom level of the building's underground parking garage, pursued by a man in a souped-up black truck who wants to kill Tom and anyone else who gets in his way.
It wouldn't be far off to say this movie is like Duel in a parking garage. However, Throttle does not make the classic mistake of being nothing but a clever concept. Good stories generally have secondary conflicts and relationships woven through and around the concept, in this case it being Tom's relationship with Molly and his inner conflict over the criminal act he's committed. Those elements not only flesh out the film so it's more than a guy running hither and yon in fear of his life, they also give you a reason to care about the guy and whether or not he gets killed. Too many movies simply assume the audience's interest in their main character and never give you any reason to identify with him or root for her to succeed.
Throttle also looks very good. In fairness, this isn't all that cheap a production as low budget filmmaking goes. There's more stunt work and destruction here than could be paid for with a couple of credit cards. But no matter how much money you have and no matter what level of skill you possess, you can always make things look good by working within your limitations. This film has just a few action sequences and the rest is good camera placement and sharp editing. A lot of the shots are pretty basic, but they're arranged and executed with talent and vision. Visuals don't have to be complex to be compelling. These filmmakers take maximum advantage of their parking garage setting and something as ordinary as bright light to create some impressive imagery.
Now, it's not like the movie is perfect. It indulges in too many flashbacks, particularly ones that remind us of stuff previously shown in the film. The killer also has way too much motivation and spends too much time explaining it all. There's also an unnecessary does of extra drama squeezed into the conclusion.
Throttle is an exciting and scary tale told with a little intelligence and a lot of craft. The people who made this movie are people who should make movies for a living. You can't say that about many low budget filmmakers.