Fast, Cheap & Out of Control @ Amazon

Errol Morris presents a master class in the power of editing with 1997′s “non-fiction” work, Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. The film chronicles the lives of 4 men with interesting careers, who are seemingly unconnected in any meaningful way, and has been classified as a “non-fiction” work as opposed to a documentary thanks to its eschewing of conventional methods.

In the movie, we are introduced to a lion tamer, an expert in hairless mole rats, a man who creates topiaries, and a robotics scientist from M.I.T. As the film progresses, Morris interweaves their disparate stories by cutting footage together, and showing visuals from one story with narration from another. In a unique way, Morris effectively demonstrates how interconnected everyone is, and how common themes permeate the lives of all humanity.

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control utilizes a number of film formats, and even introduced an invention new to filmmaking: the Interrotron, with which interview subjects are able to see both the camera and the person who is interviewing them, creating the illusion of eye contact with the audience.

Hairless Mole Rat Expert Ray Mendez

The movie is a singular experience, entirely unconventional and intelligently constructed. It’s earned a spot on our list of Neglected Gems because the few Criticker users who have seen it have given high marks to it. Errol Morris is one of our most talented documentarians, and his consistently wonderful films, and this one in particular, deserve not to be neglected…