Critics reviews

What made Diesel a failure also makes it interesting: like Daney said, “its cruelty is not sincere.” If Kramer, that ex-pat, that American observer of the spirit of ’68, could’ve seen the future we find ourselves in today, where corporations are people, and the victims of climate change are the ones that had nothing to do with causing it, he might still have made Diesel, this strange movie against contracts, where heroes drive tow-trucks, women stick together, and handshakes are everything…

As a Mad Max-type comic book for kids, Diesel is not very effective indeed. There are either too many or not enough resources; the casting doesn’t make sense; the story stays unclear for a long time, and its cruelty is not sincere... Yet, as the film moves from the Building to the Village and the story merely becomes a chase between Nelson and Diesel (Klein), we find that the film, despite everything, _works_.