The Film Pie

Yep, it’s yet another big, blockbuster action film from Jerry Bruckheimer with absolutely no storyline. It subscribes to the theory that to create a big film, all you need is fancy stunts with lots of huge stars. In Gone In 60 Seconds, the creators have tried to cater for those who enjoy fast cars. They’ve started with the big car chase scene at the film’s end and tried to work backward to create a plot. They have failed.

Nicolas Cage is Memphis, a retired car thief who used to be the best in the business. He has since retired from the game but is forced to return when his younger brother (Ribisi) gets in hot water with a nasty underworld leader after a botched theft. Memphis is given the challenge of stealing fifty cars in three days so that the leader can meet his client’s demands or else his brother will be killed.

So, Memphis goes out and reassembles his old crew (including Jolie and Duvall) as they set out to pull the impossible off. On their tale though are two detectives (Lindo and Olyphant) who have wanted to pin a crime on Memphis for years but have never been able to make it stick. Enough said?

Everything here borders on ridiculous and the fact that studio executives thought one might enjoy this is an insult to our intelligence. A particular scene of note sees Jolie and Cage stealing a car in a suburban neighbourhood and Cage suspects that someone is watching him. You’ve got to see it to believe how bad it is.

Sure the big finale gets the blood flowing with a very length car chase scene between Cage and the entire police force (of course, he eludes them all) but that’s not good enough in my book. I feel the only positive to come out of this film was the fact that my memory of the whole experience was gone in sixty seconds. If that sounds like a tacky cliché, wait till you see the film...