GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS
Review by John Beachem
* * * 1/2
Directed by: Dominic Sena Written by: Scott Michael Rosenberg
Kip Raines (Giovanni Ribisi) has a problem. He was hired by the local crime lord, Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston), to steal fifty cars. Unfortunately, the cops caught him before he finished and impounded the cars. Now Calitri is going to kill Kip unless Kip's older brother, Memphis (Nicholas Cage), fulfills the contract. Memphis used to be a master car thief but retired to keep Kip from following in his brother's footsteps. Now Memphis has just three days to steal all fifty cars or his brother will be crushed like a tin can. So Memphis goes back and tracks down his old crew, which consists of four experienced thieves. Otto Halliwell (Robert Duvall) is the leader of the group, a feisty old man who has tried to retire and lead a straight life. Sway Wayland (Angelina Jolie), Memphis's former lover, has gone straight by working herself into the ground at two-full time jobs. Atley Jackson (Will Patton) still works as a car thief for Calitri, but his loyalties are with Raines. Donny Astricky (Chi McBride) and The Sphinx (Vinnie Jones) have obtained regular jobs, but both seem eager to re-enter their former life styles. As the group rushes to beat the clock, they are being closely followed by detectives Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo) and Drycoff (Timothy Olyphant). They have a history with Memphis and are waiting to catch him in the act of stealing a car so they can put him away for good.
Okay everyone, we all know what to expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer ("The Rock", "Con Air") movie. We're going to get a weak story, lots of explosions, predictable plot twists, and a lot of fun. If you go into "Gone in Sixty Seconds" expecting a typical Jerry Bruckheimer movie you should have fun. If you expect something deep and dramatic, well, you've obviously never seen a Jerry Bruckheimer movie before. His latest outing is as mindless as ever, but boy is it entertaining. "Gone in Sixty Seconds" is a movie packed with car chase after car chase, with very little tying them together. The car chases are made amusing by Bruckheimer's desire to keep a PG-13 rating attached to the movie. This means that he goes out of his way to show that no one gets killed in the chases, no matter how disastrous the accidents might be. In one scene a cop car gets smashed through a massive concrete wall by a wrecking ball, and the cop climbs out looking slightly dazed. I think the other reason for this was because the cops are obviously the good guys, and the car thieves, while played like good guys, are obviously the villains. Everyone, myself included, would have been in an uproar if the cops had been mercilessly slaughtered while we were supposed to be cheering for their killers.
With the exception of "The Rock" and possibly "Enemy of the State", most Bruckheimer movies aren't known for featuring great actors. "Gone in Sixty Seconds" is a delightful exception to that rule. While Nicholas Cage acts like Nicholas Cage (as always), he occasionally shows some (gasp) emotion. I think this is because Cage's passion in life is cars, and he was now given the chance to make a movie about them. He looks like a little boy in a candy store through most of the film. While I may not like Nicholas Cage, I like nearly every member of his supporting cast. Will Patton ("Entrapment", "Armageddon"), who was one of the best actors in "Armageddon" shines once again. Robert Duvall ("A Civil Action") can't help but be good in everything he appears in, and he sticks to that trend here. The other stand-out actor is Delroy Lindo ("Romeo Must Die"), who seems to be making a name for himself. Lindo has quite a talent for snapping back and forth from looking angry to looking calm and collected with believability. The two most unusual casting choices were Angelina Jolie ("Girl Interrupted") and Timothy Olyphant ("Go"). Angelina Jolie was an odd choice because, contrary to what the previews would have you believe, she plays little more than a bit part. This was a waste of one of todays most talented actresses. Timothy Olyphant, who was great as the slightly off-kilter drug dealer in "Go", is given nothing to do in "Gone in Sixty Seconds". His character serves no purpose other than to follow Delroy Lindo about and make not-so-smart-alec comments.
A common trait amongst Bruckheimer films has always been the strangely frantic editing. It doesn't seem to matter who directs, Michael Bay ("Armageddon"), Simon West ("Con Air"), or Dominic Sena, Bruckheimer must set the style in advance. Dominic Sena's only sense of style seems to be to film chase scenes at night in unlit areas so we can't tell who is chasing who. Bay did something similar in "Armageddon" on the asteroid, but at least it made some sense there. I have only one other major complaint with "Gone in Sixty Seconds", but it's a very big complaint. This is a movie filled with interesting and bizarre characters, but they're all given next to no screen time. Vinnie Jones' ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels") character of The Sphinx is possibly the most unusual, being an apparently mute mortician who walks through punches and explosions without a scratch. He also seems the most eager to kill and maim things, but he's never given the chance since he shows up in only four or five scenes. The other interesting character is Patton's, who seems to be the mediator of the group, and has a history of some sort with all the other characters. Unfortunately his past is never gone into, and we still know nothing about him by the end of the film. Okay, I'm done complaining. "Gone in Sixty Seconds" boasts two things which put all my complaints to rest. One is the best car chases this side of "Ronin"; the other is a terrific soundtrack which features classic songs like "The Lowrider" combined with yet another great score from composer Trevor Rabin ("Armageddon"). Like all Bruckheimer films, this one runs too long at 117 minutes. I'd recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed his previous films and to anyone who enjoyed "Ronin" for its car chases. I give it a well earned three and a half out of five stars.
Any past movies you want me to review? Send to: johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net Past reviews can be found at either: http://www.dependentfilms.net, http://www.epinions.com/user-elerad or http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem
* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year. * * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk. * - See this one only if you enjoy pain.
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