In a sentenceAn unusually patient car-theft film, considering how much noise everyone is making
Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) is at the centre of a car-theft caper involving Kip Raines (Giovanni Ribisi), Sara ‘Sway’ Wayland (Angelina Jolie) and Otto Halliwell (Robert Duvall). Cars are the targets, and stealing them is the business at hand. Det. Roland Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo) and Detective Drycoff (Timothy Olyphant) are the police presence in a story that also brings in Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston), Donny Astricky (Chi McBride) and Atley Jackson (Will Patton). The action follows the thefts and the people involved in them.
Dominic Sena’s car-theft caper has an appealing cast and plenty of attractive machinery, but too little urgency to justify the wait. The stunts offer some relief from thin characters and a sluggish build-up.
Gone in Sixty Seconds ought to offer uncomplicated pleasure: attractive cars, a capable cast and enough theft to keep both occupied. Dominic Sena directs it as though those ingredients will do the work without much help. The result is a poor caper with some agreeable company, far too little urgency and 118 minutes in which to notice. We do not need these thieves to be profound, but we do need to care about their next difficulty.
Scott Rosenberg’s screenplay gives the stealing plenty of attention without making the thieves comparably interesting. Nicolas Cage, as Memphis Raines, has an ease that can carry a lightweight caper, and the cast’s relaxed manner is one of the few reliable pleasures here. The writing gives that charm little help. A flimsy plot need not be fatal to this sort of entertainment, but the people involved have to make us curious about what they might do next.
Angelina Jolie plays Sara ‘Sway’ Wayland, and the film’s treatment of its female lead makes the thin writing harder to overlook. There is too little for her to do in a caper so absorbed by its masculine posing. Robert Duvall, as Otto Halliwell, and Delroy Lindo, as Det. Roland Castlebeck, add to the sense of a cast with considerable ability left unused. The actors remain welcome company, which is why their limited opportunities are frustrating.
Paul Cameron’s cinematography gives the cars an inviting gloss, making them the film’s most consistent attraction. Jeff Mann’s production design supports that polish without supplying much sense of a life beyond the business of stealing. Enjoying the vehicles is a reasonable part of the bargain, and the film does deliver on that modest promise. But the attention lavished on them makes the neglect of the characters harder to ignore.
We were bored by the succession of thefts, because acquiring another car rarely makes the people doing it more interesting. The long build-up needs stronger characters or a steadily increasing sense of pressure, and neither develops enough to justify the wait. Editors Tom Muldoon, Roger Barton and Chris Lebenzon give the action plenty of quick cuts, but that pace within individual sequences does not make the whole film move. The action is also difficult to follow when the cutting breaks up our sense of where the cars are.
Trevor Rabin’s music is loud enough to make the lack of excitement feel especially awkward. The score keeps insisting on an energy that the story has not earned, and the noise becomes tiring. There is pleasure in the motoring stunts, with flashes of the physical excitement that should have sustained the film. Those passages are welcome, even when the editing makes it harder than it should be to appreciate the driving.
Against the modest demands of a car-chase thriller, this is a disappointing use of good people and appealing machinery. The generally poor critical response is understandable, though the cast and occasional burst of action prevent a complete write-off. Devoted admirers of the vehicles may find enough to occupy them, provided they are tolerant of the wait. Anyone coming for the actors should choose another caper.
Most critics find Gone in Sixty Seconds underwhelming, with the cars attracting more interest than the people stealing them. The limited praise centres on the cast’s easy charisma, the glossy presentation and occasional bursts of action. Total Film singles out Vinnie Jones as a scene-stealer, while Eye for Film finds enough pleasure in the motoring stunts to make the weak, implausible script tolerable as popcorn entertainment.
The reservations cluster around thin characters, a shallow plot and a lengthy build-up that delivers too little excitement. Opinion ranges from qualified watchability to outright rejection, with no positive verdicts in the supplied tally. Even the chase work divides critics: Radio Times considers the final chase a strength, whereas Variety argues that choppy editing ruins its spatial coherence and excitement. The disagreement is chiefly over whether the cars and cast provide enough compensation for the writing.
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Read the full review →Ebert’s verdict is mixed, with the film’s car-theft premise offering limited appeal. The cars are more compelling than the characters, though neither makes the film especially engaging.
Read the full review →Berry finds the film short on action and plot, making its lengthy buildup hard to justify. She singles out the car-focused premise and a decent final chase as its strengths.
Read the full review →The review finds the film entertaining but underwhelming as an action movie. It praises Vinnie Jones’s scene-stealing performance and the cast’s laid-back charisma.
Read the full review →Newman finds the film shallow, derivative and emotionally empty, though its glossy action has some appeal. He singles out the loud music, fast editing, overqualified cast and cool cars as its compensations.
Read the full review →French finds the film a typical, macho caper whose characters are thin and unengaging. He singles out the expensive cars as taking precedence over the characters, while the villain fails to frighten.
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The Driver · not reviewed yetLean, unsentimental getaway driving, with enough space to see the manoeuvres.
The Italian Job · not reviewed yetBritish caper comedy that gives its cars a properly organised outing.
Le Cercle Rouge · not reviewed yetA patient French heist film whose preparations make the eventual job matter.
Wheelman · not reviewed yetA tighter, more anxious evening for anyone chiefly interested in the driving.
The Thieves · not reviewed yetA South Korean ensemble caper with more friction between its criminals.
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