Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)

An exploration of the careers of four unrelated professionals: a lion tamer, a robotics expert, a topiary gardener, and a naked mole rat specialist.

Director:

Errol Morris

Stars:

Dave Hoover, George Mendonça, Rodney Brooks

11 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dave Hoover	...	Himself (Wild Animal Trainer)
George Mendonça	...	Himself (Topiary Gardener)
Raymond A. Mendez	...	Himself (Mole-Rat Specialist) (as Ray Mendez)
Rodney Brooks	...	Himself - Robot Scientist

Storyline

What do an elderly topiary gardener, a retired lion tamer, a man fascinated by mole rats, and a cutting-edge robotics designer have in common? Both nothing and everything in this unconventional documentary directed by Erroll Morris. Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (Referring to the robot specialist's strange philosophy of robot design structure, not Erroll Morris's documentary techniques!) interplays, overlaps, and interrelates these four separate and highly specialized documentary subjects in order to in truth study all of humanity, raising questions about the future of mankind.

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Plot Keywords:

robot | lion | topiary | cult film | eccentric | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ektos elenhou

Filming Locations:

Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,665, 5 October 1997, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$832,785, 11 January 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Playhouse, Fourth Floor Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Discussed in Episode 97 of the popular radio program This American Life. The subject was "Death to Wacky" and it originally aired on March 20, 1998.

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Quotes

[On creating topiary]
George Mendonca: This is all done from memory. If you know what a animal looks like, you just, well, you just start making an animal.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Kiss the Girls/The Matchmaker/U Turn/The Locusts/Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)

User Reviews

Emergent Systems

In science, there is a property of any complex system, that more complexity and subtlety will result with each added component. This, in my opinion, was the subject of "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control." The parallels drawn between AI, societal mammals, commonality of life (the lion tamer) and art (topiary gardener) flesh out a world where the idea of "God" can well be reduced to a simple inherent property of existence. Mole rat societies are not so far from human societies; humans are not so different from animals; robots are not so different from animals; and each individual represents a unique degree of specialization that proves important to the greater society it exists in. I found this work elegant, subtle, and even-handed, not to mention completely unique in its structure and faith in the audience to decipher an individual meaning from the context provided. Each person interviewed is wholly engrossed in their craft, something for which no other human can be substituted, and that exuberance shines in their eyes. It's a strange ride that inspires wonder in trusting viewers, exactly the way that the experts' wonder has motivated their realization as truly unique humans.