GONE IN 60 SECONDS

Susan Granger’s review of “GONE IN 60 SECONDS” (Touchstone Pictures)

Has your car ever been stolen? Have you ever experienced that queasy, sinking feeling when you walked to where you left it, only to find…no car? That may be why I had a perverse curiosity about this new Jerry Bruckheimer action/thriller. Written by Scott Rosenberg (“Con Air”) and directed by TV-commercial veteran Dominic Sena (“Kalifornia”), it stars Nicolas Cage as “Memphis” Raines, a master car thief. Back in his heyday, there was no vehicle he couldn’t heist in 60 seconds. He’s ostensibly retired until his kid brother Kip, played by Giovanni Ribisi, is in mortal danger. That brings him back into the grim world of crime and fear for one last, intense high-stakes heist. He and his hastily re-assembled gang of seasoned experts, teamed up with Kip’s younger crowd, must steal 50 prized cars – as Robert Duvall does the tally. Angelina Jolie plays a tough, Ferrari-loving mechanic who was romantically involved with Memphis. Delroy Lindo is the L.A. police auto-theft detective who’s determined to arrest Memphis, while Christopher Eccleston is the vicious villain. The inventive car chases with expert stunt drivers are amazing, particularly on the bridge linking Long Beach and San Pedro. Car thieves give their prey girl’s names so the mythical star is “Eleanor,” a pewter 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500 with black stripes. In the original “Gone in 60 Seconds” (1974), best known for its 40-minute chase, Eleanor was a yellow 1973 Mach 1 Mustang. (Remember the green ’68 Shelby fastback Steve McQueen drove in “Bullitt”?) On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Gone in 60 Seconds” accelerates to a fast-paced 4. It may push the pedal to the metal for car-and-action aficionados but it left me still wondering where my stolen car wound up.

04
Scroll to Top