Gone in Sixty Seconds
Fifty cars to steal. Three days to do it. One contrived piece of
moviemaking.
Story
The improbably named Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) was a legendary auto
thief until -- you guessed it -- he gave up his corrupt ways and went
straight in the time-honored tradition of sympathetic Hollywood crooks.
Now his kid brother (Giovanni Ribisi) is in deep doo-doo with a fearsome
British hood (Christopher Eccleston), and Memphis is forced to make one
of the more ridiculous bargains in crime movie history: Either he goes
out and boosts 50 high-end cars or the bad guys will whack his bro.
Acting
Fat paychecks from mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer ensured this cast
would be packed with talented actors, including Cage, Ribisi, Angelina
Jolie, Delroy Lindo and Robert Duvall. No one is particularly good, no
one is particularly bad -- just a little bored. Cage, who previously
starred for Bruckheimer in "The Rock" and "Con Air," sleepwalks through
his least inspired performance in recent memory. Supporting players such
as Jolie and Duvall are strictly window dressing to class up this
shameless commercial venture.
Direction
While helmer Dominic Sena ("Kalifornia") isn't quite as in-your-face
with the hyperactive MTV style as past Bruckheimer henchmen Michael Bay
("Armageddon") and Tony Scott ("Enemy of the State"), all the producer's
trademarks are here -- the glossy TV commercial visuals, the pounding
rock music, the simplistic characterizations cynically aiming for the
lowest common denominator. It's all very polished on the technical
level, and Sena delivers some high-octane. Too bad there's that dull
90-minute chunk of dramatic build-up to sit through first.
Bottom Line
Did somebody steal the script?