E-Mail This Article to a Friend TORQUE

Replete with laughably banal tough-guy banter spoken by either smirking or snarling actors, Torque is a movie that you will, whether you like it or not, someday find yourself watching at 3 a.m. on a sleepless night. How much you embrace Joseph Kahn’s film will depend on your affection for guns, loud noise, crystal meth (it’s about time this drug got its due in the movies!), and, of course, motorcycles.

Martin Henderson’s Ford is a maverick with a small gang who’s returned from exile in Thailand to "make things right" with a rival gang leader and with his ex-girlfriend. But alas, Ford has a knack for finding trouble, and soon he’s framed for the murder of a third gang leader’s brother and being chased by the feds. Music-video vet Kahn and his team have created a dark, metallic biker world in the beautiful, stark California desert, and on rare occasions, the script lives up to its scenery; one motorcycle chase involving a moving train is a fun update on that action standard. Torque ain’t that good, but it leaves last year’s Biker Boyz in the dust. Ice Cube and Monet Mazur co-star. (81 minutes)