Gone in sixty seconds not a bad film (Gone in Sixty Seconds (DVD))

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Product:	Gone in Sixty Seconds (DVD)
Date:	23/10/01 (12 review reads)
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With a title like ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ and a plot that often seems like it’s there just to showcase ludicrously expensive cars, this film is a gold mine for all those wonderfully witty critic descriptions. Here’s a couple: "turn the gas mileage up and take this baby for a spin." "The charisma of Nicolas Cage lasts far longer than sixty seconds." One Australian critic actually described its finale as "as worn as the tyres on an old clunker." I prefer the description given by Sydney Sidewalk’s Annette Basile: "There are a lot of smart, slick, sophisticated action/thrillers out there. This isn't one of them."

It is however an enjoyable ride (no pun intended) that speeds along (no pun intended) at a pace dictated by its star vehicle (no pun intended). Ok, ok, the puns were intended. Making the plight of stealing fifty cars in one night seem possible is in itself a fair achievement, and ace big guns producer Jerry Bruckheimer is up for making it as loud and dumb as can be expected. Even more so. That’s a different attitude that I’d hoped for after being seduced by the films clever advertising ("how long does it take to buy popcorn?" "…and how long does it take for them to steal your car?") which contained membranes of a possible whiz-bang film: a catchy premise and a jokey attempt to induce some kind of audience paranoia. I like that theory. Scare the buggers and, out of some kind of morbid curiosity, they’ll come back for more.

Another notable achievement: making the suave Nicolas Cage look like a car thief (well, actually, a suave car thief). Cage plays Randall "Memphis" Raines, an ex car thief who was the best in the business. When he retired, car theft in his area dropped forty-seven percent. Memphis is forced to temporarily come out of retirement, however, when his younger brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) botches a job. Whe
n he witnesses Kip being held hostage by a Ralph Fiennes look alike, Memphis is given three options: steal fifty specific cars in three days and Kip is off the hook, lie about stealing the cars and they both get hunted down and killed, or walk away and his brother gets crushed to pulp in a salvage yard. Of course, Memphis chooses the first option and attempts the biggest heist of his career, with the help of a few old buddies like Angelina Jolie and Robert Duvall. Together with Kip’s younger and less experienced friends, they plan an elaborate surprise "boost" and decide to go for all fifty cars in one night.

This paves the way for a hell of a lot of car chase scenes, the kind of which would please motor-heads hungry for engine noise. They are all photographed well, with the cameras generally staying very close to the cars, giving it a confided intensity. One scene in which Cage is being chased by police through a wharf-like complex had s big metal drum smashing cars as it tumbles off walls and objects, and it struck me how great the shot might have looked from an arial view. But alas, no great imagery here, the cinematography reflects more of an interest in Cage’s sharp jaw lines and the metal of the cars rather than any spectacular positioning of them.

What I found most interesting here weren’t the mileage of the shiny vehicles but rather that the thieves, the crims, the bums, they are the heroes. We barrack for them -- they’re the guys (and one gal) that we hoot and cheer for as they take cars and cruise around for our enjoyment. Jump in Nick, we’re waiting…that’s what we think rather than hope that the police will find their man and shove him in the slammer. No way, locking Nic Cage in a cell would be a sin -- this man needs space to roam, he aint no Hurricane…And you can sense the attraction to ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ whether discussing Cage’s choice of role or why we b
arrack for the bad guys. Sometimes it’s fun to be a badass and sometimes it’s fun to be on their side.

Nic Cage loves to be a badass and loves to dress up for the occasion, but he doesn’t seem to like being a _villain_. There’s a big difference, and it’s in the way the audience responses to his characters. In just about every one of his gun bearing roles as a good guy there’s also a degree of bad guy, whether it’s in a practical sense like ‘Face/Off’ or through a character transformation, and Cage’s geek-becomes-hero character Stanley Goodspeed in ‘The Rock’ comes to mind. So he’s the badass, again, and the good guy, again, and he pulls it off, again, because everybody loves Nic Cage, and here in ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ he is still very much the crux of all the action. Cage helps dictate the pace, working with director Dominic Sena and saving most of the action and aggressive face expressions till last. Cage is an actor that directors won’t shy their focus away from, and there’s a reason (actually, a few): he’s charismatic, he’s a badass, and he can act.

He can’t however perform the impossible not here, not in ‘8MM’ that is, he can’t completely overshadow a flawed or average film. ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ is severely flawed for its lack of originality, with even the most film-impaired viewers undoubtedly believing that "oh, that was so predictable." It even has the audacity to challenge ‘Speed’ for the most ridiculous screen vehicle jump in history, and it actually almost wins.

Ultimately, this film speeds along at good pace, like a vehicle that’s flash and money-coated on the outside but old and familiar on the inside. It’s a bumpy ride, but Nicolas Cage’s charm lasts far longer than sixty seconds. Turn the gas mileage up and take this baby for a spin.


And those puns were intended.

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