Gone In Sixty Seconds Movie Essay, Research Paper

I am not into cars, but I presume those who are fanatics might get more out of this film than I did. Gone in Sixty Seconds barely works. There are plenty of car chases, but they are filmed in such a manner that it is hard to tell what’s going on. The camera swerves back and forth and the scene drowns into a blur. Rarely do we get a steady camera shot that lets us perceive the situation.

The story is about Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage), an ex car thief who is now retired to teaching kids the art of gocart racing. His peaceful existence is disrupted when his brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) who has followed his car jacking footsteps runs afoul of his boss and is unable to deliver the fifty cars he promised. Kip’s boss forces the legendary Menphis to come out of retirement and deliver the fifty cars in 72 hours, or his brother will end up fossilized in a crushed car cube. Memphis agrees to the deal and gathers some of his old buddies to pull of the heist. It is decided that all fifty cars will be stolen in one night, whilst using the first two for scouting locations.

There are lots of characters in Seconds. Most of them are interesting. I mean, they aren’t decently sketched characters by any means, but for this sort of film, I’ll take quirky stereotypes over wooden performances any day. That brings me to the point of Cage’s performance. He has become so boring. Where’s the hyperactive hero we saw in The Rock. His Memphis flashes moments that are so interesting, that it’s joltingly disappointing to see him waste away for most of the time in autopilot with minimum enthusiasm that is clearly seen through the boring droll of his voice. Angelina Jolie as his love interest is far better. She is under used, but when on screen she lights in on fire with that sultry face that’s impossible to take your eyes off.

A tag along sub plot about a rival band of car thieves who’s continue to pester Memphis’ team yelling “this is our turf” must have been thrown in as an excuse to blow up numerous cars at the same time real good. It really is annoying when these abrupt and jarring stowaway stories get in the way of the real plot moving on.

As an action movie, the film delivers more thrills than the recent Mission Impossible 2. The final extended car chase piece was one of the better filmed action scenes with a massive gas cylinder ricocheting of walls and moving cars powered a leak through the valves. This had some intensity that made me believe there was an element of danger for the parties involved.

I didn’t mind sitting through this action flick. Delroy Lindo’s inclusion to the cast as a police detective hounding Memphis was a bonus. I always like his work. If you want some quick action, a sexy leading lady, and a tip or two on stealing cars (purely for entertainment purpose of course) then check out the film. Don’t expect anything clever in the action department though.