Eric Dane, who broke out as McSteamy on “Grey’s Anatomy,” has been spending a lot of time in Atlanta the past couple of years.
He played a villain in the summer hit “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and is now a messy deadbeat dad in “One Fast Move,” a father/son relationship film wrapped around professional motorcycle racing that was released on Amazon Prime Aug. 8. The movie was filmed in metro Atlanta in 2022 with Road Atlanta in Braselton and Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton given center stage in key racing scenes.
Dean Miller, Dane’s character, is a single, struggling 40-something motorcycle racer with a bad back who works in a bike shop owned by Abel (Edward James Olmos). His life takes a turn when Wes (KJ Apa), his son he abandoned two decades earlier, suddenly shows up, fresh out of jail for illegal street racing and seeking Dean’s help to become a pro racer himself.
Reluctantly, then enthusiastically, Dean trains his son, who is clearly talented but is vulnerable to dad’s often bad advice. Fortunately, Olmos’ Abel plays Mr. Miyagi to both of them, dispensing wisdom by the tankful.
“I love the dynamics between Dean and Wes,” said Dane in a brief Zoom interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week. “I love a good repair job. And I love a good story where there’s redemption for all involved. I wanted to bring a sense of reality, truth and integrity to the piece.”
Dean abandoning his girlfriend and son in the first place to pursue his pro bike career “was not admirable,” Dane said. “He took the easy way out.”
The movie gives Dean an opportunity to make up for lost time. But extending the “Karate Kid” analogy, Dean was often more Kreese than Mr. Miyagi. At one point, he tells Wes to purposely take out a hated rival biker Cody during a race, similar to Kreese commanding Johnny to “sweep the leg.”
Apa, best known as Archie for six seasons in the CW’s “Riverdale,” gives Wes a bad boy image on the surface but a tender heart inside.
“KJ is a keeper,” Dane said. “We are very tight to this day. He was so much fun to work with. He was so malleable and willing to put in the work.”
Dane himself is no stranger to motorcycles. “I’ve owned a few in my lifetime,” Dane said. “I got rid of them when I had my first born, but I love them. I love the culture. And I think riding motorcycles on a track is cool.”
Indeed, he did some of his own riding on camera, although he knew his limitation: “I did nothing that required any real speed or when you had to lean into turns.”
IF YOU WATCH
“One Fast Move,” available on Amazon Prime
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