- Title: Gone in 60 Seconds
- IMDb: link
Throwback Thursday takes us back to 2000 when former car thief Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) is brought out of retirement to put together a crew to prevent his idiot younger brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) from being killed after botching a major job for the sociopathic Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston). Calling on his old friends, and incorporating Kip’s new ones, the crew attempts to steal 50 cars in one night, without getting caught by the police (Delroy Lindo and Timothy Olyphant), and deliver them all to Calitri on the docks.
A loose remake of the 1974 film, Gone in 60 Seconds is not much more than an excuse to see the various characters boosting and driving some cool cars. Sometimes this leads to car chases, such as the extended one in the final act, but not as often as you would expect as most of the time the thefts go of without a hitch.
Along the way Memphis will also attempt to patch his relationships with both Kip and his ex Sway (Angelina Jolie), both part of the crew. Jolie stands out as the only woman on the crew, but that distinction doesn’t give her much extra to do other than be mad at or horny for Memphis, or both, for much of the movie.
The film has more than a few logic issues (like why Memphis chooses to steal the final car himself rather than farming it out to any number of the capable crew who it isn’t “cursed” for). However, the main issue with Gone in 60 Seconds is it takes far, far too long to get to the heist leaving the first 70% largely filler, including some groanworthy “comedic sequences following the initial set up and building of the crew.
Watch the trailer