An action movie...with no action! (Gone in Sixty Seconds (DVD))

Member Name: Master Russ

Product:	Gone in Sixty Seconds (DVD)
Date:	14/08/00 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: One good car chase

Disadvantages: The rest is dull, dull, dull

Everybody knows that action movies are dumb, loud and entertaining. So when you head down to your local multiplex to see a film about a gang of car thiefs stealing 50 cars in one night, you expect a dumb, loud entertaining film. This is not what happens. As with the average Jerry Bruckheimer-produced summer blockbuster, the plot can be summed up in one line, the big name actors are present, and the dialogue is only there to give the actors something to do, other than looking cool. Unfortunately, that is it. You have to wait sooooooo long to see the only decent car chase that the main emotion it provides is relief, rather than excitement. And yes, it is quite memorable, but not enough to make up for the previous hour and a bit of people talking, and characters coming out of retirement (inevitably) after much soul-searching to help Nicolas Cage to save his brother. Cage is good, as always, but seems to be meandering along in second gear, with none of his trademark unpredictablity and manic energy. It is also worth noting that his hair is extremely sad. Angelina Jolie looks ridiculous and is only there to provide a smattering of love interest for Cage. Their entire past together is dealt with in about six lines of dialogue, and at the end they seem to have a future together, and that is, essentially, her role in the film. Robert Duvall is along for the ride, with a few well chosen nuggets of advice, and Vinnie Jones....where do we start? OK, the guy looks tough, but he is just walking through this part with a complete lack of charisma or talent. And, if I have to sit through a supposedly mute character delivering a sweet little epilogue to the events of a film one more time, I am flying over to Hollywood to have a word with some people.
The most infuriating thing about this film, however, is the fact that (spoiler ahead!) the gang FAILS in the task of stealing 50 cars. To rectify the situation, Nic Cage has a fight with the bad guy. And wins. You sit
there wondering, 'why didn't he just do that in the first place?'. If you are a fan of car chases, wait for the video, rent it out and wind it to near the end. Watch the last twenty minutes, and then take it back to the shop and say 'the picture's all fuzzy, can I have my money back?'

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