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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
Has your car ever been stolen? Have you ever experienced that
queasy, sinking feeling when you walked to where you left it, only to
find...no car? That may be why I had a perverse curiosity about this
new Jerry Bruckheimer action/thriller. Written by Scott Rosenberg
("Con Air") and directed by TV-commercial veteran Dominic Sena
("Kalifornia"), it stars Nicolas Cage as "Memphis" Raines, a master
car thief. Back in his heyday, there was no vehicle he couldn't heist
in 60 seconds. He's ostensibly retired until his kid brother Kip,
played by Giovanni Ribisi, is in mortal danger. That brings him back
into the grim world of crime and fear for one last, intense
high-stakes heist. He and his hastily re-assembled gang of seasoned
experts, teamed up with Kip's younger crowd, must steal 50 prized cars
- as Robert Duvall does the tally. Angelina Jolie plays a tough,
Ferrari-loving mechanic who was romantically involved with
Memphis. Delroy Lindo is the L.A. police auto-theft detective who's
determined to arrest Memphis, while Christopher Eccleston is the
vicious villain. The inventive car chases with expert stunt drivers
are amazing, particularly on the bridge linking Long Beach and San
Pedro. Car thieves give their prey girl's names so the mythical star
is "Eleanor," a pewt er 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500 with black
stripes. In the original "Gone in 6 0 Seconds" (1974), best known for
its 40-minute chase, Eleanor was a yellow 1973 Mach 1
Mustang. (Remember the green '68 Shelby fastback Steve McQueen d rove
in "Bullitt"?) On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Gone in 60
Secon ds" accelerates to a fast-paced 4. It may push the pedal to the
metal for ca r-and-action aficionados but it left me still wondering
where my stolen car wound up.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
