Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)

3 out of 4

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Giovanni Ribisi, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, Delroy Lindo, Will Patton, Christopher Eccleston, Vinnie Jones

Director: Dominic Sena

Time: 117 mins

You can spot a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film a mile away. Slick, action-packed, with a cast of cool stars, and plenty of whiz-bang visual wizardry, Bruckheimer (and former partner, the late Don Simpson) knows how to package a 2 hour piece of fluffy entertainment. Past blockbusters like Top Gun, The Rock, Con Air, Enemy of the State, and Armageddon attest to this flash-and-little-substance formula, though occasional classy efforts like Beverly Hills Cop and Crimson Tide pop up now and again. Bruckheimer employs directors who never keep the camera still. Tony Scott and, especially, Michael Bay, move the camera in a flurry of quick edits and stylistic angles. Bruckheimer's latest production, Gone in Sixty Seconds, a remake of the 1974 H. B. Halicki B-grade, car chase epic, maintains this high energy, hyperactive approach. Directed by Dominic Sena, it has a lot of flash, and, surprisingly, even a modicum of substance. It's not a great film, but it goes down like fast food - easy to swallow though ultimately not very memorable.

Halicki's original revolved around a spate of car thefts and a 40-minute car chase that in the end was a bit overdone and much ado about nothing. Writer Scott Michael Rosenberg updates the setting, and keeps the car theft storyline intact. Nicolas Cage, starring in his third Bruckheimer film (following The Rock and Con Air), is Randall "Memphis" Raines, a reformed former car thief who is called back into action when his younger brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) fails to complete a boost (car thief jargon for a job) for Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston) and is slated for death if 50 cars aren't delivered to him in 3 days. Memphis calls on a host of old buddies including Otto (Robert Duvall), Sway (Angelina Jolie), and The Sphinx (Vinnie Jones) to help him complete the job. Complications come from a rival gang of car thieves and the policeman on his tail, Detective Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo).

The trailer for Gone in Sixty Seconds promised a lot of cool car chases and stunts, but there is surprisingly little automotive action until the last half hour. We follow Memphis' cronies as they locate the 50 cars, as well as their efforts to dodge the rival gang and the police. Efforts to inject a little character building, some romantic tension, and a bit of brotherly bonding, don't work, primarily because this is an action/caper film and there is little time for such distractions. Still, it's nice to have this character development, as it elevates the film above pure, brainless trash like Armageddon.

When the action begins, the chase scenes are some of the best put on film. Director Sena utilises a variety of Los Angeles locations and some zippy editing to create a visual juggernaut of fast cars, screeching tyres, and narrow escapes. The chases aren't as exciting as, say, the classic Bullitt duel through the streets of San Francisco, or even the frantic train pursuit in The French Connection, but for pure visuals and kinetics, this must rate in the top 10. The only problem is that there isn't a lot of it, and this might leave some people who were sold on the film's trailer a bit short. While I wished for more, I found the final action scenes fairly satisfying, in that the wait for them made the inevitable chase sequences something to savour. And savour them I did.

Car buffs and lovers will love the machines on display in Gone in Sixty Seconds. There are several Mercedes, a Lamborghini, and a Mustang, plus several other sleek and beautiful designs. The parade of automobile flesh almost outshines the stars, even with a cast of such repute. The film has no less than three previous Oscar winners (Cage, Jolie and Duvall), as well as fine character actors like Ribisi (from Saving Private Ryan) and Will Patton (so memorable in the Kevin Costner thriller No Way Out). Cage himself sails through the role, which never calls for him to do more than be cool and stamp his foot on the accelerator. Having been in a couple of miserable films lately (Snake Eyes and 8mm), he is wise to return to the stable that made him an action star. Duvall is good, but Jolie seems to have been employed as the token female in an otherwise testosterone-heavy film. Correspondingly, her role is skimpy, and her character even skimpier. Ribisi's character is fairly bland, too, though his mournful eyes helps. And Eccleston, who was menacing as the Duke of Norfolk in Elizabeth (1998), looks unrecognisable as a modern day British-accented criminal.

Many critics have been unkind to Gone in Sixty Seconds, citing a lack of originality, paper-thin characters, and dreary action - the usual labels slapped on Bruckheimer films. I was expecting something like Armageddon, (which was fun in a very trashy way, but is now just trashy), but came out feeling I had watched something like The Rock, though just not as action-packed. Gone in Sixty Seconds does not approach Crimson Tide, probably the best of the typical Bruckheimer action films (Beverly Hills Cop doesn't count, as it's a comedy), but it's entertaining and has a great car chase as well. I can give it no better praise than to say, "I enjoyed it."

(c) Joe Wong (9 July 2000)