Quicksilver

what the film does

jack casey (bacon) is a young floor trader on the pacific exchange who loses his family’s savings on a risky trade. he quits, drops out, and becomes a bicycle messenger in san francisco. the film follows his life on the street: the messengers he works with, the woman he falls for (gertz), the drug dealer who threatens the neighborhood, and the pull of the trading floor that never quite lets go.

the plot is predictable. the film knows it is predictable. what matters is the texture: the hills of san francisco shot from a bike messenger’s perspective, the messenger culture that the film treats with respect rather than condescension, and bacon’s performance as a man who found something real in a job everyone else considers a dead end.

the cinematographer was thomas del ruth, who would later shoot the west wing and earned an ASC nomination for this film. the score is by tony banks, keyboardist of genesis, his first film work. the soundtrack includes tracks by roger daltrey and peter frampton.

why this one

three reasons. first, the san francisco bike messengers. the film casts real messengers as extras and films them riding real routes at real speed. the chase sequences through downtown traffic are not stunt work in the conventional sense; they are riders who know the city doing what they do every day, with cameras attached. the opening sequence of bacon riding through morning traffic is the best thing in the film.

second, the cast. this is laurence fishburne between the matrix films, paul rodriguez doing dramatic work before he became known for comedy, and louie anderson in one of his few dramatic roles. the ensemble has an easy chemistry that the script does not always deserve.

third, the score. tony banks brought the same atmospheric synth sensibility he used in genesis to the san francisco streets. the main theme is a moody, propulsive piece that elevates the riding sequences beyond what the editing alone achieves. the film grossed $7.2 million on a $10 million budget, a commercial failure that has aged into a cult object.

what stays with me

the opening ride. bacon on his bike, the hills, the traffic, banks’ score building underneath. the film never matches it again, but that five minutes is worth the whole movie.

on hand

the dvd is the columbia tristar home entertainment release in the canon.