Cool Cage and Cool Cars
Is "Gone in Sixty Seconds" a great movie? No. Is it Nicolas Cage's best movie for showing off his skills as an actor? No. Is it Oscar worthy? No. But none of that matters as "Gone in Sixty Seconds" is 118 minutes of fast paced car action with Nicolas Cage delivering what for me is his coolest performance to date. To put it simply "Gone in Sixty Seconds" is entertainment for the masses with entertaining characters, lots of car action, a great cast and lots of style - nothing more, nothing less and it works.
After his brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi - Boiler Room) screws up a boost for the dangerous Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston) his brother Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage - 8MM) is forced to go back on his word and re-enter the world of car theft in order to save his little brother. It's a huge job for Memphis to pull off, steal 50 cars in one night and in order to get the job done he will have to call on his old crew; Sphinx (Vinnie Jones), Otto (Robert Duvall) and Sway (Angelina Jolie - Girl, Interrupted) to pull it off. But Raines' return to town doesn't go unnoticed as Det. Roland Castlebeck (Delroy Lindo) soon spots him and puts two and two together and knows Raines is up to his old tricks.
To explain the storyline to "Gone in Sixty Seconds" actually makes it seem a bit boring, a retired car thief forced out of retirement to save his brother by getting the old gang back together to steal 50 cars in one night. But this is a movie which is all about how it does it and right from the word go with some snappy credits and kicking soundtrack it gives us pacey style. That continues through out the movie with stylish car raids, stylish characters and lots of use of natural light and shade to give it a great look. Yes that means that "Gone in Sixty Seconds" is shallow entertainment but it works.
A big reason for that is down to the brilliant casting with many actors embracing their fun characters so we have the likes of Delroy Lindo, Robert Duvall, Scott Caan and many more delivering false but entertaining characters. There are literally to many to mention and when we encounter Vinnie Jones's Sphinx working in a morgue and not saying a work it simply entertains. That entertainment is also sexy with Angelina Jolie giving us bad girl sexy as Sway and Nicolas Cage delivering cool from start to finish. As I said I rate Cage's performance as Memphis Raines as his coolest but it comes off cool not just because of Cage but his co-stars giving him cool characters to work with who fire off the smart ass dialogue which they all get.
Of course "Gone in Sixty Seconds" has cars, lots of cars and lots of exciting action and for someone who loves car action this movie delivers. From the over the top opening which sees Kip stealing a car from a showroom to Raines nemesis Eleanor the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 which has eluded Raines when he use to be a car thief.
What this all boils down to is that "Gone in Sixty Seconds" isn't a great movie but it does exactly what it sets out to do and that is give you almost 2 hours of cool car action, comedy and in some cases sexy characters and as such it is simply entertaining.
