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6.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Fast Workers remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like pre-code movies where everyone talks fast and nobody is particularly good, you’ll probably have a decent time with Fast Workers. If you’re looking for a warm, fuzzy story about friendship, skip this one. It’s mean-spirited in a way that feels surprisingly modern.
The whole thing is built around this weird, toxic pact between two guys who work on skyscrapers. Gunner and Bucker are supposed to be best friends, but their friendship is basically just one long endurance test of betrayal.
The construction scenes have this frantic, dizzying energy. Watching these guys dangle off the side of buildings makes my stomach turn even now. It’s not like The Shock Punch, where the physical stuff feels like a sport. Here, it feels desperate.
The dialogue is thick and punchy, almost like the writers were trying to fit as many insults as possible into every single frame. It’s hard to keep track of who is lying to who, but that seems to be the point.
There’s this one moment where Gunner is sitting in a jail cell looking like he’s bored out of his mind, and it’s weirdly relatable. Most of these guys look like they’ve been working for twelve hours straight before the camera even started rolling.
It’s not perfect. The transition from the steel beams to the romantic drama is a bit jarring, like someone shoved two different scripts into a blender. Sometimes it’s a comedy, sometimes it’s a tragedy, and sometimes it’s just people shouting in a hallway.
It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Arsene Lupin, though without the polish. It’s raw, messy, and keeps moving even when it should probably stop and explain itself better. Don't expect to walk away feeling like you learned a big lesson about life.
Honestly? It’s just nice to watch something that isn’t trying to be a masterpiece. It’s just a movie about two guys who are really, really bad at picking friends. 🏗️