Transitioning from the world of television to film can be extremely difficult, but unlike many others, Aaron Paul isn’t coming off of a middling sitcom that inexplicably ran for many years. He’s the lead in one of the greatest dramas of all-time (Breaking Bad), and so he’s already proved to everybody that he’s got more than enough chops to bring the goods when it comes to acting. Unfortunately, Need For Speed isn’t the best way to show off that talent, not in any way shape or form.

Tobey (Aaron Paul) loves fast cars and friends, but he loses both when he’s framed for the murder of one of his best buds. After being released from prison, Tobey comes up with an epic plan to capture the man (Dominic Cooper) responsible for that hideous murder. Such a plan entails a famous race involving uber fast cars, courage and a lady named Julia (Imogen Poots).

Oh man, it should have been so simple. I mean really, you’ve got some very capable actors in here that should be able to make any material downright enthralling. Yet, somehow, director Scott Waugh fumbled every aspect of this mess he could, right down to sequences that simply involve watching automobiles go zoom. While he at least has the courtesy to do away with shaky cam, you’re likely to still get nauseous just from hearing the dialogue in this thing.

Let’s make a new rule for all-time shall we? No screenwriter shall ever write what they consider to be conversations young men have between each other, because as seen in the opening scenes of this film, it just sounds ridiculous. Please stop so I don’t have to feel like I should rip off my ears only a few scenes into this flick.

He may not be the one who knocks, but Aaron Paul is more than able to hold his own in terms of conveying a wide gamut of dramatic emotions. And yet, he’s somehow sleepwalking through this entire fiasco, never opening his eyes beyond “squint mode” and constantly speaking his lines like he just woke up 5 minutes before they filmed his scenes. Dominic Coopers villainous foe doesn’t get much development, leaving him to conjure whatever he can for this one-dimensional baddie. Imogen Poots serves absolutely no purpose to the plot, except to be eye candy I guess? Oh yes, and Michael Keaton is perfectly hilarious in all of his scenes, thanks to his over the top performances spouting out lines about Aaron Paul’s silver encrusted genitals in the hammiest way possible.

Keaton’s performance is bad, but at least it has energy, something the film seriously lacks despite having, I guess, 739 or so vehicles in it. They may not all be great, but the best of the Fast & Furious movies show that when we care about the people driving the cars, the action gets much more exciting, a lesson Need For Speed should have learned from the get-go. Of course, there’s a ton of other lessons it should have learned along the way as well, namely that you shouldn’t waste a cast this good on a film this bad.