One Way

Baker steps it up here, giving a fairly cohesive performance, but unfortunately this thriller can't satisfyingly balance its disparate plot elements and doesn't generate much suspense. Baker (who's also known as recording artist Machine Gun Kelly) is on-screen most of the time in One Way, and he does a convincing job of conveying agony and stress, sweating profusely and powering through terse, whispered conversations on his blood-covered phone. A thriller set almost entirely on a bus, where trouble waits at every stop, seems like a sound idea for a tense, exciting movie. But this one is somewhat inert; the physicality and movement and space of the situation aren't used for any particular effect, unlike in, say, Speed or Crank. (Perhaps the shaky-cam cinematography is to blame.) The film seems as stuck to its seat as Freddy is, unable to really move.

Moreover, whenever the story flips from Freddy's flight to Rachel's plight, it feels forced. Freddy seems pretty self-involved and without much in the way of morals, so when he tries to do what's best for his fellow traveler, it feels out of character. Likewise, the script doesn't tie the two stories together (the only connecting point is at the very end, and it's an arbitrary one). As Freddy gets woozier and dizzier, his involvement makes less and less sense. Still, even without much else going on in One Way, actors like Reid and Bacon find moments to shine. But it's a shame that de Matteo's sinister Vic is sold short; in her few scenes, she plays it frighteningly cool, and it might have been fun to see more of her.