Andrew Gordon writes: "In reply to Don Larsson: Yes, Speed is formulaic, but aren't they all? So are Elizabethan sonnets. It's what you do with the formula that matters. Speed has three acts: elevator, bus, and subway car. Each maintains a high pitch of suspense with enough surprises and tension to keep you on the edge of your seat. Speed is as efficient as its title. True Lies sagged in many points and stumbled between sitcom farce, spy spoof (poking fun at James Bond), and preposterous action. At least that's how it struck this viewer. But the best thing about both films was the women (Bullock and Curtis) not the male action heroes." Yes. I'd agree on all points. I just wanted to say that SPEED is a good action film and better overall than TRUE LIES if you take it one its own terms, but it's still preposterous. I didn't expect more than formula from SPEED, so I wasn't disappointed. There are cases, of course, where the film can be utterly presposter- ous and still be complex and compelling without being formulaic. TOUCH OF EVIL comes immediately to mind (talk about negative female images!). In all, the point is that "realism" is an extraordinarinly vague criterion to use in discussing a film. (Did someone actually write earlier that TRUE LIES was realistic?) Context is all! --Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN