A nicely produced biography and one of the better crime stories to hit the screen in several years, the movie Speed Kills follows 25 years of the speedboat kingpin and shady businessman. The film covers his life with the mob, personal happenings and the shaping of his mega business Cigarette speedboats. Nicely directed, filmed and written for the screen it now gets its release on VOD and Digital HD.
Building Contractor, entrepreneur and family man Ben Aronoff (John Travolta) has been doing well in New Jersey up until 1962 when things take a dive. Always living up to his debts to mob accountant Meyer Lansky (James Remar) he decides to leave the state with his wife Kathy (Jennifer Esposito) and his three kids to settle in Miami avoiding further dealings. There he hires a lawyer, Shelly Katz (Michael Weston), to work for him on a boat business venture with local boatman Nick Brady (Craig Chamberlin). Over time he builds the fastest boat on the water called a Cigarette and quickly becomes wealthy. But, the mafia’s Lansky wants Aronoff’s loyalty to help him in his drug dealings, something he doesn’t want to give to the mob.
The film plays out at a fast clip as Aronoff gets involved with some shady deals. Directors John Luessenhop and Jodi Scurfield use a lot facts from the era of boat racing and drug smuggling that was prevalent during the 60’s thru the 80’s and weave a nice tale. While there was no Ben Aronoff, there were real persons who could have been a substitute for the role like “Cocaine Cowboy” Gustavo Falcon, along with his brother Willie and Sal Magluta, who imported cocaine in racing Cigarette type boats from Nassau to Miami.
Well put together with an excellent cast lead by John Travolta as Aronoff, the movie is a definite yes for video on demand and digital HD. Travolta does a great job as the entrepreneur Aronoff who was able to evade Meyer Lansky for many years as shown in the film. Acquiring many championships in the races from Miami to the islands, his trophy wall becomes his pride. But, there’s no getting around the mafia for Aronoff and the mob boss’s nephew in this crime thriller that gets touch and go between life and possibly death.
Speed Kills has been rated R by the MPAA for language, some violence and drug material. It plays out much like the reality that was Miami in the era depicted in the movie. So, if you lived in South Florida as I did, you heard about the Cocaine Cowboys regularly on the local news stations.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A well written and acted film. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: John Travolta, Katheryn Winnick, Jordi Mollà, Jennifer Esposito, James Remar, Kellan Lutz, Craig Chamberlin, and Amaury Nolasco
Directed by: John Luessenhop, Jodi Scurfield
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violence and drug material
Running Time: 1 hr. 42 min.
Opening Date: November 11, 2018
Distributed by: Saban Films
Released on: VOD and Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
