The movie Fast Five follows Dominic Toretto, Brian O'Connor, and members of their team as they plan a heist in Brazil to steal money from a drug lord while being hunted by a bounty hunter. The team must work together effectively using both verbal and nonverbal communication despite cultural differences as they coordinate their complex plan, support each other, resolve conflicts, and rely on their intimate relationships and workplace dynamics within the group.

1. Fast Five
Relevant Characters: Dominic Tore4o, Brian O’Connor, Mia
Tore4o, Roman Pierce, The Rest of the Fast & Furious Team
Plot: The movie takes place in Brazil. The members of
previous Fast and Furious teams throughout the series
return for a join mission to steal money from the top drug
lord in South America, while simultaneously being
hunted by the United States’ most notorious bounty hunter
and his team.

2. Key Concepts
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Verbal Messages
Nonverbal Messages
Intercultural Communica9on
Listening Effec9vely
Suppor9ng Others
Communica9ng Personal Informa9on
Interpersonal Influence
Managing Conflict
Communica9on in In9mate Rela9onships
Communica9ng in the Work Place

3. Verbal Messages
Verbal messages are key to effec9ve communica9on among the characters.
Much of the planning and teaching is done verbally.
“Verbally messages are the parts of an uIerance that use language to convey
meaning.” (Verderber & Verderber, 103)

4. Nonverbal Messages
The characters use nonverbal messages in several different ways. They use
gestures, eye contact, and most oTen they use tone of voice. When they are
communica9ng via telephone or walkie talkie they must use tone of voice to
convey a sense of urgency.
“Ac9ons and vocal tone, among other
things, create meanings that stand
alone or that support, modify, or
contradict the meaning of a verbal
message.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 131)

5. Intercultural Communica9on
Since the movie takes place in Brazil and the majority of the main characters
are American, there are many intercultural miscommunica9ons. An example
is when Brian and Mia are visi9ng Vince, and Vince’s neighbors see them as
unfamiliar and trespassing and they threaten them.
“When communica9ng with people
whose beliefs, values, and a[tudes are
culturally different from our own, we are
communica9ng across cultural
boundaries, which can lead to
misunderstandings that would not
ordinarily occur between people who
are culturally similar.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 71)

6. Listening Effec9vely
In order to properly execute the final plan, everyone needs to listen
effec9vely. An example is when Brian and Dom are driving two separate cars,
while towing the safe, they need to effec9vely listen to each other and to Mia,
who is guiding them, over the phone so that they can work together as a
team.
“Listening is the process
of receiving, construc9ng
meaning from, and
responding to spoken
and/or nonverbal messages.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 196)

7. Suppor9ng Others
The characters con9nuously support each other’s skills and efforts throughout
the film. An example of this would be when they are assigning tasks for each
member of the team, they pride each
person on their individual skills and
value to the team as a whole.
“Suppor9ve communica9on can
contribute to healthier rela9onships,
With such benefits as marital
sa9sfac9on, healthy family interac9ons,
Strong friendships, and amicable
work rela9onships.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 258)

8. Communica9ng Personal Informa9on
At the beginning of the film, the team has never worked together as a whole,
many of the members have not met each other before. There is a lot of
sharing of personal informa9on, so that the characters can learn each other’s
strengths and weaknesses.
“The communica9on of personal
informa9on has an important
impact on our rela9onships.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 292)

9. Interpersonal Influence
When there are unforeseen factors that create great conflicts with the plan,
many of the team members are ready to drop out. The more passionate
members of the team influence the others to stay and finish out the mission.
“Interpersonal influence is the act of
changing the a[tudes or behaviors of
others.” (Verderber & Verderber, 326)

10. Managing Conflict
There are many conflicts that arise throughout the film, such as faulty
equipment, etc. They must work together to overcome the obstacles. An
example is when Vince and Brian are figh9ng, and Mia has to step in and
resolve the conflict.
“Conflict is neither good nor bad.
Although it can damage people and
rela9onships, it can also help expose
important issues and develop learning,
crea9vity, trust, and openness.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 358)

11. Communica9on in In9mate
Rela9onships
There are several in9mate rela9onships within the team. Dom and Mia are
siblings, Mia and Brian are engaged, Vince and Dom are childhood friends,
and Brian and Roman are childhood friends. An example of in9mate
communica9on is when Brian, Mia and Dom are going to split up on a mission
and Mia tells Brian that she is pregnant. This brings the three of them closer
together as a family unit.
“In9macy is the degree of emo9onal
closeness, acceptance, and disclosure in
a rela9onship.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 17)

12. Communica9ng in the Work Place
For the members of the
team, these missions
are what they consider
to be their career. It is
their main source of
income. They have
formed rela9onships
doing these missions
together as parts
of teams.
“Good communica9on skills are universally recognized as essen9al for
successful interac9ons at work.”
(Verderber & Verderber, 442)

13. Conclusion
The part of the movie that relates to my communica9on style is Mia’s role
in the group. Mia tends to be fairly quiet, but remains the calm within the
storm. When there are conflicts, Mia is the one that stays calm and figures
everything out, and keeps everyone else calm.
I think that I could do well in the rela9onship that Mia is because I am able
to stay calm within chaos. She keeps a good rela9onship with everyone in the
group.
I think that the movie does offer a realis9c portrayal of interpersonal
communica9on because there are so many different personali9es within the
team and each person falls into a different category. I feel like that is what
happens in real life.