Gone in 60 Seconds Movie Review:

Gone in Sixty Seconds is a fast and typical heist film. Memphis Raines (Cage) used to be the greatest car thief in Los Angeles. Now he has retired to run a gas station and kid go-kart track. However, Memphis’ younger brother, Kip (Ribisi), is still a car thief. Kip recklessly steals a Porsche and mistakenly leads the police to a chop shop, which angers a powerful crime lord named The Carpenter (Eccleston). Memphis learns about the trouble that Kip is in and visits The Carpenter to set things straight. However, The Carpenter tells Memphis that the only way he can save his brother’s life is by stealing 50 hard-to-find cars and to deliver them in four days. Memphis quickly accepts and recruits his old buddy Otto (Duvall) to help him assemble a large crew of car thieves. Now, Raines and his crew have to work together against the cops and the clock to save Kip’s life.

Gone in Sixty Seconds has a little bit of vagueness and one really stupid action moment, but the film is full of exciting car chase scenes with some very cool cars.

Scott Rosenberg wrote the script for Gone in Sixty Seconds. Rosenberg’s previous writing credits include: Beautiful Girls, Things to do in Denver When Your Dead and Con Air. His strength in this script is the brotherhood story between Memphis and Kip. However, Rosenberg has too many characters in this film, resulting in lost of consistency. An example of one inconsistent character is Raines’ love interest Sway (Jolie), who is introduced as being a very pivotal character in the film. Then she is hardly seen for the next thirty minutes, and shows no depth until almost at the film’s climax. Overall, I do believe the brotherhood plotline overshadows most of the flaws in the script.

Dominic Sena does a fine job directing the film. Though a large amount of the credit should probably go to “the master of destruction”, producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Together, Bruckheimer and Sena create a full-throttle car chase atmosphere. There is only one really impossible action sequence that Bruckheimer and Sena elaborated on. The sequence is really cheesy; it looks as if something that would come out of a movie like Speed 2. I don’t want to explain this sequence because it is towards the end of the film, and might serve as a spoiler. I saw this one sequence really bringing down the film.

The acting ensemble in Gone in Sixty Seconds is a lot better than what audiences see in most action films. Nicolas Cage’s performance as Memphis Raines is not nearly as strong as his past action roles, but he still an excellent male lead. Robert Duvall steals the few scenes that he is in as Memphis’ old buddy Otto. Angelina Jolie didn’t have much to work with as Memphis’ love interest Sway. However, Jolie is still a bright presence when she is on the screen. Giovanni Ribisi continues to show terrific flexibility with role as Kip. Ribisi delivers a patient performance as Memphis’ car-theft brother.

Gone in Sixty Seconds is a film that I believe most audiences will flock to. Bruckheimer’s films always pull in large audiences across the world. Even though the film does have some flaws, I do recommend it. It is better than Hollywood’s last action blockbuster (Mission Impossible 2).

Report Card Grade: C+

Joseph Tucker

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