This is just an American Lock Stock (Gone in Sixty Seconds (DVD))

Member Name: Chris H

Product:	Gone in Sixty Seconds (DVD)
Date:	11/02/01 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: American Lock Stock

Disadvantages: American Lock Stock

Imagine the scene in some big movie moguls office. Lock Stock is a big hit and America needs to produce its own Americanised version, because quite frankly they don't really understand all the jokes and think it may pollute their 'culture'. The end product is Gone in 60 Seconds.

To help them out they draft in Vinnie Jones, but to ensure he doesn't steal the show they give him only one line. The bad guy is also British, but hey Alan Rickman was in Die Hard and he stole the show, unlike the layabout in this particular role.

To its credit there are some reasonably good jokes, lots of VERY VERY nice cars, an attractive 'grunge chick', and some good if uncredible car chases. There were also many attempts at keeping things arty, with some moderately adventurous camera angles and lighting, although I think the film could have done equally well without them.

In comparison to Lock Stock, the plot is strikingly similar, "get loads of stuff or you die". Unfortunately Nicholas Cage spends far to long fannying around organising things and not enough time DOING stuff. And there are not nearly as many jokes. You also have to put up with the typical Cage humour, which is fine for 5 minutes but wearing for the entire film. Some mention should be made of Robert Duval, he managed on about 5 occasions to use the exact same lines he used in Days Of Thunder, not only that he reprised his entire character as well.

Apparently there are strategies to the opportunist world of mass car crime, although to be honest all this really seems to involve is a blackboard some girls names and a few electronic gizmos that are required in any modern American action film.

Don't get me wrong though, I did find this film entertaining, it is not on any of my favourite lists but it was an enjoyable way of passing time. I especially liked the scene in a Ferrari dealership when Cage is trying to be a yuppie who wants to be an ind
ividual, surely a contradiction in terms? On the stunt front, there were at least two truly original moments, one was forcing a police 4X4 through a brick wall using a wrecking ball, and the other was unleashing a presurised gas container which took out all the police cars missing the beloved Cage.

I would like to add a small confession, I wasn't motivated to watch this film by the opinion of any other Dooyoo'ers, or the words of learned film critics. Far worse I was watching Channel 4 and saw a blockbuster ad, the image of a Porsche Carrea bouncing through a showroom window was all I needed to rush down to Blockbuster and rent the thing. How sad does that make me??

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