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> GONE IN 60 SECONDS (2000)
Testosterone fueled car chases and little else....

Directed by: Dominic Sena

Written by: Scott Rosenberg

Genre: Action

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall

Rating: 5 out of 10

When you see that a film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, you come to expect certain things, mainly a hell of a lot of action. That's an understatement, an INSANE amount of action. Nicolas Cage has sort of been in a bad run lately at the box office and with Gone in 60 Seconds the end of this streak is even farther out of reach.

Where to begin? I disliked so much about this movie. First thing first, the cast. On the poster you see Mr. Cage (of course, he's the big star) but you also see the beautiful Angelina Jolie. Obviously her image is used here only for the "chicks and cars" factor because she has about five minutes of total screen time in this film. The marketing people did a good job by putting Ms. Jolie in the one-sheet poster for the film (thanks in big part I am sure to her recent Oscar award for best supporting actress in Girl, Interrupted) and to list her second to Cage in the credits. These marketing skills probably did get more people to waste their money on this film than would have with just Cage and hot rods as the selling points.

Now to the action. Aside from the last big car chase, which was very well done and earned this film two points in my rating, there is very little excitement in the film. I am not a big car buff. My friend who I saw this movie with is a big car fan, and would probably have given it an 8 or higher rating, but I would wonder if he were rating the film itself or how good the cars were. There is one huge technical flaw towards the end of the film where Nicholas Cage is on the run that nearly made me laugh out loud. Picture "Free Willy" in front of an 80s-level blue screen and swap the whale with a 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500. This movie was a huge disappointment aside from the sound and some action sequences.

If you want to see a real car chase movie, I strongly suggest Ronin, starring Robert DeNiro.

What I liked: The cars and the chases. The sound was really good; it made you feel like you were behind the wheel.

What I didn't like: The waste of talent this film was, and under-use in Jolie's case. The horrid mistake on a key special effects sequence. With a title like Gone in 60 Seconds, you would expect a little more excitement!

(John C. Lyons, Film Critic)