To a small extent, you have to admire Gone in Sixty Seconds for its honesty. It makes no attempt to be anything other than what it is: a formula action film complete with cops, cool thieves, funny thieves, dumb thieves, car chases, shootouts, and a pretty woman with a wide smile. And guess who she works up a romance with? Wrong, not the guy whose criminal talent is ordering pizzas.

Gone in Sixty Seconds is produced and directed with such slick execution that its two hour length passes far more effortlessly than expected. The only real surprises come from the significant size of the supporting cast, and the relatively small role of foreign-accented villain Calitri (Christopher Eccleston).

The latter has only a few scenes, the first of which seals his eventual fate when he sneers at The Great American Pastime. Baseball is boring, huh? What about cricket, a game that no one outside the Commonwealth even wants to understand, you pompous wood lover!

We know that the hero Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) is actually a good guy, even though he is the ringleader of luxury auto thieves. He's only stealing fifty expensive cars to save his brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi), because it's much easier to do that than to simply leave town with Kip before the deadline arrives. And since he gets his mother's permission first, it must be okay, even if it results in the wreckage of the most cop cars since The Blues Brothers (1980).

Ten minutes into the film, and we already know that the ending will involve the hero, the villain, the cops, and the fifty heisted vehicles all in the same place at the same time. We know that the hero will live up to his half of the bargain, while the villain reneges. Only a few interchangeable details need to be worked out, none of which will surprise anyone.

Gone in Sixty Seconds is a loose remake of the 1974 film that is still notorious for its forty minute car chase. The chases in the remake are much shorter, and there are many well executed stunts. Some of these (shades of Bullitt) are performed by Cage himself. One that he did not pull off involves a spectacular jump that in Speed fashion should be the highlight of the film.

But there is little suspense in these scenes. Memphis cannot be arrested, at least not until he has his big showdown the despicable baseball-hating Calitri. However, he can flirt with token love interest Sway (Angelina Jolie), whose presence also conscripts female viewers.

Meanwhile, the older demographic is brought on board by Robert Duvall, who has a plum supporting role as Memphis' second in command. Duvall had a similar if larger mentor part in the 1990 Tom Cruise racing vehicle Days of Thunder. The role of Top Cop is filled by veteran actor Delroy Lindo, whose character is so clueless that he can't catch anyone in the act even though he knows who, what, when, where, and why. Perhaps he should become a journalist instead.

Those who love fabulously expensive sportscars may enjoy this film, although they will cringe at the damage that these vehicles suffer. For the rest of us, this action caper has admittedly better production values than an "A-Team" episode, but it doesn't have anything more to offer in terms of human insight. (36/100)

k@filmsgraded.com, filmsgraded.com


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8