Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Giovanni Ribisi, Angelina Jolie, Delroy Lindo, Will Patton, Robert Duvall, Christopher Eccleston Writer: Scott Rosenberg. Director: Dominic Sena.
Review by Scott Hunt Movie Hunt: http://netdirect.net/~hunt/index.html
Rating: Near Miss (1 out of 4 stars)
The stereotypical American male has an undeniable fetishistic love of sports cars. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer plays upon that attraction with a movie so loaded with testosterone and laced titillatingly with shot after frenetic shot of powerful muscle cars, sleek foreign road huggers and iconic speed machines that many males will leave the theater in an orgasmic haze. Gone is 60 Seconds is an orgy of maleness gone horribly awry.
Cage is legendary retired car thief, Memphis Raines (don't you love cute movie names), who must call upon his time worn skills to save his thick-headed brother (Ribisi) from being killed. Seems a murderous crime boss (Eccleston) with a fetish for wood (insert your own joke) hired brother Kip to steal a ridiculous amount of expensive, exotic autos. Fifty cars, to be exact. Poor Kip screws the pooch and bungles the job badly. If the cars aren't delivered in three days, bossman has a casket carved out just for Kip. Literally. If only someone could save him. Hmmmm..wonder what Memphis is doing?
In order to give the film some emotional heft, there are several subplots designed to tug at our heartstrings or give us the thrill of...yawn, excuse me, dramatic tension. Shadowing Memphis is an old law enforcement foe (Lindo) who's looking to send Memphis away. Will he catch him? There's old flame Sway (Jolie), who had her heart broken by Memphis years ago. Will they get back together? Shortsighted, thrill seeker Kip idolizes his brother, yet resents him for moving away from the family. Will they reconnect? Raines old mentor (Duvall) has long since left the life of crime. Will Memphis get him finally caught as he pulls him back into the life, one more time? Can you answer all these questions correctly in 2 seconds without seeing the film first? I'll bet you can.
Following the opening credits, which fill you in on the accomplishments of the Raines family through a montage of old photos, we was taken full throttle into the splendor that is Memphis. He's first shown living the good life teaching young children to drive go-carts. In a later scene, as misfit brother Kip knowingly tells Memphis he has the stolen car situation under control, all the while making breakfast, a metaphor is made of Shakespearean proportions. Just as a pan of grease flares up with Kip clueless to how to quell it, big brother Memphis calmly and efficiently throws some salt on it. Looks like everything might turn out alright after all. You know this because the music swells on the crest of violins.
That's about as strong as the characterization gets, which is a shame. Bruckheimer has a real talent for loading his movies with an obscene amount of talent given the task at hand. Monumentally underused Jolie portrays an empty headed sexpot whose idea of sex revolves around cars and Memphis. Or maybe it's just the cars. Duvall trots out his ornery, but sweet old codger outfit. I'm sure he's still laughing at taking a paycheck for this one. Lindo projects a warm hearted, but tightly focused detective that almost transcends the material. The biggest waste of resources is Vinnie Jones, who plays a mute accomplice of Memphis. Without saying a word, he is easily the most charismatic person in the movie. Like a blast of nitrous oxide, he attacks each scene with a straightforward zeal. Too bad his minutes onscreen are so few. Somehow, Bruckheimer manages to attract top Hollywood acting talent to high concept, poorly written movies, gussies up the film with lots of gold hues and pleasingly stylized action and they sell like proverbial hotcakes.
Every time something clever happens it's counterbalanced by something so overtly wrong that it jerks you back into realizing you're watching a movie. There's a innovative usage of black lighting that goes from being a novelty to a part of the plot. It's counterbalanced by an extremely feeble attempt at humor by having an Asian American repeatedly failing a driver's test. Imagine the yuks. There's a segment where one of the thieves shows another his cool fake fingerprint trick. It's countered by the lame semi-subplot of a car being stolen with a bunch of heroin in the trunk. The ramifications are never explored. Then there's the ridiculousness of the many cops who actually shoot at fleeing cars. Not only is it stupid, but it's against the law.
This is a movie made of pretty, but tepid car chases strung together by just enough character interaction to move the plot along. Gone in 60 Seconds aptly describes how long it'll take for this marginally entertaining, but empty film to leave your memory.
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