User reviews

This episode of the series is the most 'filmish' of all. What I mean is that the action concentrates not around the driving itself, but about the plot, the idea - and driving is only entwined with the action, but doesn't guide it.

The driving during all the episode resembles a dance - they two are moving tenderly, closely, yet intently. Storytelling is non-linear, but this dance runs through all the episode. At the same time the details, which are highlighted now and then, make all the plot somehow intimate. And the music matches the mood appallingly.

If other episodes could be associated with a comedy, a thriller or an action movie, this one is sure to be a melodrama: it's very romantic.

Well, you'd better see it - I doubt you'll regret you did.

This short with the possible exception of Inarritu's Powder Keg is the best from the BMW series. This one is a typical film you might expect from Wong Kar Wai (very dark and film noirish). It should not be missed by any of his fans.

BMW Films currently has 5 offerings and all of them deliver. In comparison to the rest, this one is subdued in vehicular action. The plot, suspense and mystery still keep you holding on until the surprise ending. An uncredited Forest Whitaker does a fine job as the investigator. BMW Films has presented talented actors/actresses without billing them.

I agree that The Follow is the finest film in " The Hire " series of BMW short films. With it, director Wong Kar-Wai gives us a unique take on the series. The photography, and music blend perfectly to make the film itself very simple, elegant, and more poignant then you would ever expect a " promotional film " to be.

The performances are genuine and unhurried, which aside from Clive Owen as The Driver, include the talents of Mickey Roarke and Forrest Whitaker. This really does leave you wishing it was a full length feature.

Something I have noticed in all of the BMW films is the attention paid to atmospheric sound, the effects are always excellant. I highly recommend viewing all the films in The Hire series, but particularly The Follow.

So, this third installment in the "The Hire" series doesn't have any hard core car chases and the cars don't even get damaged, at all! But the cars are there, and the story makes up for the lack of action.

I won't get into details, because they would give away much of the film. But, here's an incredibly brief synopsis - The driver is hired to follow an actors girlfriend out of paranoia (her in the Z3 roadster and him in the 330 ci) but along the way, we see the story take a brutal turn and we get to see the driver have a heart, for the first time.

Being halfway through the series, and taking into account what came before and after it, this is a nice break in the adrenaline that will pull on your heart-strings more than your passion for the cars and the speed, but you'll still love it.

While John Frankenheimer and Ang Lee made films whose primary purpose is to show off the new line of BMW cars, Wong Kar Wai's FOLLOW is the first to actually try to make a genuine piece of art where the cars plays a secondary purpose. A driver (Clive Owen) is hired to keep surveillance on a movie star's wife, and begins to find himself emotionally involved.

OK, the plot is standard film noir material, but it is Wong Kar-Wai's elliptical visual style juxtaposed with melancholy music that creates an unforgettable mood piece that rejuvenates noir cliches. A perfect example is when Clive Owen looks into the wife's face and suddenly realize why she's attempting to leave her husband. It's just a simple understated shot that would be absolutely beautiful until you realize what the camera is focusing on.

This is a short film that a viewer would wish to be a full-length feature to stay in the sad stylish world that it has created. Now how many car commercials can claim that?

The most touching of BMW's short films. Owen once again plays the cool driver, but this time his emotions get in the way of his work. No insane car chases, but great in all aspects. Only one word can sum this up - beautiful.

This one has fairly little action(no, that's not true... it has no action whatsoever) and not much driving, but the interesting cinematography, good direction, well-written plot and good acting by all actors involved make it worth watching. The direction(and probably the cinematography as well) can be credited to the director, Kar Wai Wong, who does a pretty good job on telling an interesting story in a fairly short period of time. The voice-overs by Clive Owen were a very nice touch, and made the sequences of him following the wife more interesting. The well-written plot can, again, be credited to the talented writer, Andrew Kevin Walker, who is probably most well-known for writing David Fincher's Se7en. As for the acting; Clive Owen turns in yet another very good performance as The Driver, Mickey Rourke does a very good job as the husband and even Adriana Lima(who is a model, not an actress) gives a believable performance, as the wife(although arguably she doesn't have to do very much in the role). The uncredited Forest Whitaker also gives a great performance, as always. The film is thoroughly interesting, maybe mainly because of the directors(apparently trademark... I wouldn't know, I haven't seen any other films by him) non-linear method of storytelling. All in all, less driving than the others, but not bad... just a little less than what it could have been. Worth watching for fans of the commercials and possibly of the director. 7/10

The BMW Film series films are all excellent. I particularly appreciate the humor of "Star" and the sensitivity and awareness of "Powder Keg," but "The Follow" seems to stand out as the best film of them all. The Driver seems more relaxed and perhaps more together in this of all of the films. He starts out detached, coldly explaining the best way to tail someone, but becomes human, identifying with the heroine and allowing justice to be served. Amazingly all accomplished in 6 minutes. Clive Owen is great as always and Forest Whitaker is affecting in an unbilled performance. 9/10

'The Follow' again is written by Andrew Kevin Walker, just as 'Ambush'. We know him as the writer of 'Se7en'. The story is pretty good but a little slow as well. Mickey Rourke is a husband who lets someone hire The Driver to follow his wife (Adriana Lima). The one who hires The Driver is played by Forest Whitaker. As always in this series the ending of the short is very good. It looks great but like I said it is kind of slow.

I just watched the first four in the series of "BMW Films", and this is by far the best. I was more familiar with the other three directors (the great Ang Lee, the very good Guy Ritchie, and the stunningly adequate John Frankenheimer), but after seeing "The Follow" (and reading someone compare Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love" with Soderbergh's "The Limey") I feel a strong need to search out more of this director's work.

"The Follow" avoids the "five minutes worth of car chase" formula employed by the other BMW films, instead reaching for a more haunting, psychological examination of obsession and the loss of love. Clive Owens is given more to work with here than in any of the other films, and he comes through like a champ, delivering a lyrical, understated narration that the film would fall apart without. Mickey Rourke is solid, but his role goes by so fast that he doesn't get a chance to do much. Forest Whitaker is better, though for some reason uncredited. If you get a chance to watch this movie, by all means do it. Among the top five short films I've seen. Now I need to go see if I can find a copy of "Chungking Express" to rent.

The third in the BMW film series The Hire and the most disappointing one so far. No car chases in this one. This time around the driver (Clive Owen), is hired to find and spy on the wife of a movie star (Mickey Rourke).

I'm not saying an action movie has to have car chases to be good, but nothing really happens in The Follow. Most of it was pretty boring, and there was really no payoff in the end.

To be honest, all of the Hire shorts I've seen so far have been pretty underwhelming, but this one takes the cake.

4 out of 10

Visually this is a beautiful short. It has some amazing cinematography by Harris Savides who also made moody movies like "The Game", "Finding Forrester" and "Birth". The fine directing is from Kar Wai Wong, who makes this short a little piece of art.

The story is also what helps to make this movie beautiful. Although its short it still manages to create depth and stir up the right emotions. This is the second and so far last "The Hire" short written by expert Andrew Kevin Walker. If you only like and expecting a cool car chase than you're better of watching another "The Hire" short and you can just better skip this one.

The good mood music is from Joel Goodman and Jeff Rona.

Famous stars in this are Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker in an uncredited but big role.

The third "The Hire" movie is just simply beautiful!

9/10

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Another great short film from BMW films. Clive Owen is impressive as always as The Driver, but this time, he has heart instead of speed. Forest Whittaker is also wonderful and appears unbilled. A simple story told well brings a lot of emotion to a mere 6 and a half minutes. Bravo.

I was surprised to find that the director of the second film in the BMW series The Hire was Ang Lee, so imagine how I felt when this one was directed by Kar Wai Wong, he of In the Mood for Love and other films where car chases do not feature particularly highly; to say the least I was curious as to what he would deliver here. The plot this time is a tailing job – a movie star's agent hires the Driver to follow the star's wife to confirm she isn't cheating on him; a simple job but then perhaps not.

What Wong delivers is actually a really nice short film that delivers substance in a way the previous two had not while also giving the guys paying for the film plenty of slick shots of their cars in motion. The film opens with some shots with an artistic slant and it continues as such throughout. In the previous films the Driver had been mostly silent however here his narration is key and it is pretty well written to be about the art of The Follow while also filling in the story as we go along. OK, it is a flaw of the film that his technique looks awful (he seems far too obvious to me!) but the narration and the style help cover this minor quibble.

The film has a great style to it and Wong really does a good job with the following sequences. Unable to work with the thrill of a chase, he instead captures moments of slick beauty as the two cars move around cities and landscapes – it had a real flow to it and looked beautiful; the shots after stopping at the bank were particularly memorable. The cast do well here, Owen is better with some character to talk about while the quality of Whittaker, Rourke and the looks of Lima all help the feel of the film as slick and polished.

The Follow may lack the action chase sequence of the other films thus far, but it produces something I enjoyed much more as a short film (as opposed to an action clip). The story is good, the narration adds a layer to the film and yet Wong still manages to make the central product look good. Very good little short that rises above its commercial heart.

I am not sure what the one thing is that attracts me so much to this film. The pacing, the montage, the editing. Whatever it is, I found myself drawn to it from the first 30 seconds. I found myself watching the opening over and over again.

I checked out 'The Follow' mostly due to the attractive BMW commercial to hit their new films site. I think if more car companies took the cinema approach to showing off their cars, it would be a much more pleasurable experience. Rourke and Whitaker fit their roles as the abusive husband (ironic he took this role) and the agent perfectly, and Owen is suitable as a stunt driver and actor.

And in case anyone was wondering, the end song is "Una Palabra" by Charly Garcia and Mercedes Sosa. Beautiful end song to a very short but enjoyable experience.

The Follow is the third BMW promotional film. Director Kar-wai Wong brings us a very original way of filming car chases. Or is it really about car chases? First, he didn't use any sound effects for the car chases; there is just a very pleasing music in the background, as to give a sort of artistic style to the scenes. Mickey Rourke and especially Forest Whitaker play convincing roles. As for Clive Owen, he's the master! His performance is quite delightful. He plays a detective who has to follow a woman. The first few shots will make you think he is a cold person just doing his job, but then his real humanity surfaces, showing us a warm-hearted and compassionate man. An entertaining short film, though promotional, but filled with mystery, romance and even gentleness. You'll be surprised to see that after all, the movie's message goes beyond simple car chases. I'll leave you to interpret it yourself. I also strongly recommend the other 3 BMW films: Ambush, Chosen and Star.

This was a fantastic cinematic experience. Everything in this film, every line, every move, it all means something. Kar-wai Wong shows himself to be master here, and Clive Owen shows just how effortless great acting appears. Why isn't this man Bond?

excellent monologue, beautifully filmed, with great music. short and a perfect 10 from me. just flawless.

i wish i can write more eloquently about it. wkw manages to develop the characters quite well and the story is complete. the other films are pretty good, but everyone else seems to agree this one stands out.

If you have not seen any of the short films, stop reading right now and go watch them. Far from being just a bunch of car commercials, they feature popular directors like Guy Ritchie and Ang Lee, and are really intriguing.

That said, I think "The Follow" is the best of this series, and that says a lot. Directed by Wong Kar-Wai, and starring the impeccably cast Clive Owen, this short film differs from the others in that it mixes action, intelligence, and emotion, rather than simply a car chase.

The character of the Driver (Owen) is developed very well, in my opinion. He is shown to have his own ethics and standards, and is more that just a good driver.

It also features Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker in supporting roles.

I had to watch this film, the third short in the BMW series, several times before I appreciated how good it is. The spare dialogue is perfectly timed to bring out the pure visual lyricism of the film. Solid supporting cast including the always watchable Forrest Whitaker and Mickey Rourke--art imitates life.