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Review: Jack Foley
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: The Big Chase; Zero to 60; Wild Rides;
Stars on the Move; Action Overload; Conversation with Jerry Bruckheimer;
The Cult music video; Biography and filmography; Theatrical trailer.
PRODUCER Jerry Bruckheimer has acquired something of a reputation
of late for creating mindless mayhem on the Big Screen involving
a group of morally compromised 'heroes' placed in a larger than
life scenario. Oh, and they usually happen to star Nicolas Cage.
In The Rock, Cage's chemical weapons
expert was forced to enlist the help of Sean Connery's Alcatraz
veteran to save San Francisco, while in Con Air, his wrongly imprisoned
parolee was forced to battle a plane full of psychos, who somehow
seemed cool, while trying to save the life of a friend.
In Gone In 60 Seconds, a remake of the 70s B-movie of the same
name, Cage's retired car thief is forced to do one last job to
save his brother - a task made all the more difficult by the size
of his reputation. Thus, Cage and crew must steal 50 marquee cars
in three days while evading the cops, a rival crew and the token
British villains.
Bruckheimer movies seldom require intelligence, yet they have
a slam bang quality about them which makes them appealing.
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Gone In 60 Seconds is another in the same mould, a brain dead
joyride through Hollywood cliche which really ought not to be
as fun as it is for a number of reasons.
For a start, it glorifies car theft (something the producers
are at pains to point out is 'a horrible experience'), rendering
it morally dubious to say the least.
What makes Cage 'good', however, and the people he's forced to
work for 'bad', is the fact that he is prepared to ask his mother
for permission to go through with the robberies.
His crew, which features the accomplished likes of Robert Duvall,
Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi and a certain Vinnie Jones, are
also well on the road to redemption - Duvall, in particular, now
restores cars rather than stripping them!
Furthermore, the movie largely squanders the talents of a cast
which includes no less than three Oscar winners (Cage, Duvall
and Jolie), it has a plot which is stuck in neutral and car chases
which fail to keep pace with the likes of Bullitt or even Ronin.
And to top it all, there's Christopher Ecclestone as the obligatory
Brit baddie (playing it pantomime-style as ever), as well as the
aforementioned Mr Jones. But what can you say about a Hollywood
debut which requires him to play a mute heavy - not much really!
With so little to recommend Gone In 60 Seconds, it is quite staggering
to report that it is, nevertheless, quite enjoyable.
While not in the same league as Con Air or The Rock, it passes
the time effectively and features enough testosterone-fuelled
antics to keep the little boy in most men amused.
And for those who have yet to master the Playstation game Driver,
then this should offer the definitive guide to how to evade the
cops in a classic 1967 Shelby Mustang.
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