By Big Rob Rogers
rob@newsroom.byu.edu
After Nicolas Cage's less than stellar performance in 'Con Air,' one might have reservations about seeing him again in another Jerry Bruckheimer picture.
But sit back, relax, buckle your seatbelt and hold tight, because Bruckheimer delivers, the film delivers, the cars deliver.
If you're looking for the 'French Connection,' this isn't necessarily it. However, the car chases, the characters and even the story line are entertaining enough and surprisingly well thought out.
'Gone in 60 Seconds' is an update of Toby Halicki's 1974 B movie about a car thief who goes for the big score. But it's the only thread from the original story line screenwriter Scott Rosenberg leaves in the remake.
Nicolas Cage is Randall 'Memphis' Raines, retired car thief. He drops out of the business, leaving friends behind so his little brother doesn't follow in big brother's footsteps. Only little Kip Raines, played by a greasy Giovanni Ribisi, goes into the business anyway.
Kip gets himself into deep trouble when he fails to come through on the order of 50 cars he was hired to boost.
The catch?
Kip drops the ball 72 hours to deadline. The thug calling the shots, Raymond Calitri played to the tacky thug hilt by Christopher Eccleston, calls in Memphis to make good on the order or his little brother gets it.
The film moves from start to finish.
Director Dominic Sena, whose last major film was 'Kalifornia' in 1993, makes good on the trailer's promise. The film is just as fast-paced, quick moving and high-octane as the preview makes it out to be.
The chase scenes are as good as anything in 'Bullit,' 'The Rock,' or 'Ronin.' It's only out-shined by 'The French Connection.'
The cinematography was wonderful. It had to be. The only way a car chase movie works is if the camera work is quick, dynamic and energetic. And it is.
Director of photography Paul Cameron uses the cameras as extensions of the cars leaving the audience a little motion sick.
The editing was equally impressive. Quick, concise and on the mark, Tom Muldoon and Chris 'Sleepy Hollow' Lebenzon shape the movie and pace it with precision.
Rosenberg, who helped pen the critically acclaimed 'High Fidelity,' wrote the script and it wasn't deep by any stretch of the imagination, but it didn't have to be. Family drama, police drama and moral drama drove the story, and it pretty much worked.
There were a number of refreshing twists and turns that saved the story from the car-caper stereotype rut it could have so easily fallen into.
But the question is, does Nick Cage deliver or is he just another reluctant hero like he was in 'Con Air' and 'Snake Eyes.'
The answer? Yes.
He certainly isn't the morbidly depressing Ben Sanderson from 'Leaving Las Vegas' that won him an Oscar. But his aww-shucks, down-to-earth-persona certainly comes out in Memphis Raines and it's fun to watch.
Angelina Jolie didn't have much of a part in the movie, which I suppose isn't surprising, but it is kind of disappointing.
Robert Duvall was fun to watch as the old car thief mentor, and Delroy Lindo did a great job as Det. Roland Castlebeck, Raines' foil.
The film was energetic and entertaining. It delivers the goods.
Three Stars
Rated PG-13 for voyeuristic sex, language and high-speed hi-jinks.