Need for Speed

Right now you can watch Need for Speed in Australia on Disney Plus and Hoopla, and in the US on Hoopla — and it earns its twists rather than manufacturing them. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. With 4,741 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Aaron Paul leads a cast that carries the story without ever feeling mechanical. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Disney Plus.

Need for Speed arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The plotting in Need for Speed is tight enough that the twists feel earned rather than assembled. The film revolves around a local street-racer who partners with a rich and arrogant business associate, only to find himself framed by his colleague and sent to prison. After he gets out, he joins a New York-to-Los Angeles race to get revenge. But when the ex-partner learns of the scheme, he puts a massive bounty on the racer's head, forcing him to run a cross-country gauntlet of illegal racers in all manner of supercharged vehicles. Credit to Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper for grounding it — this is a cast that earns the twists. Need for Speed came out in 2014. What distinguishes the best crime dramas from the rest is whether the character work can carry scenes where the mystery takes a breath — Need for Speed passes that test consistently. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers who think they have seen every crime drama tend to find Need for Speed proves them wrong. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Aaron Paul anchors it, but the writing does the real work. If you are going to commit to one crime drama this month, make it this one.