2000, R, 118 minutes

I wish I could tell you that Gone in Sixty Seconds was a sub-par experience, but compared to the normal crap dished out during the summer season it's actually a decent film. Unlike many of the summer's other offerings, it manages to pass the basic movie competence test -- a rare feat for the month of June. The characters have a clear and realistic source of motivation, the plot is logical and easy to follow, and best of all... it's not a 30-minute movie stretched into 2 hours of runtime because of numerous slow motion shots. Sure, Gone in 60 Seconds definitely has some big flaws, but for the most part it succeeds as an entertaining popcorn flick.

Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) is a retired car-thief currently living in the middle of nowhere and teaching little kids how to drive go-carts -- that is until the day his past comes into town. Atley Jackson (Will Patton), a man who was once a part of the crew, delivers some bad news. Kip (Giovanni Ribisi), Memphis' younger brother, followed in his big bro's footsteps and managed to get himself into a great deal of trouble. After botching a rather large car order, Kip is responsible for the delivery of 50 cars in only a matter of days, otherwise a man named Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston) will kill him for ruining his reputation. Memphis returns to Los Angeles in order help his brother out, and along with the help of his old crew they take a shot at fulfilling the order.

While the basic story behind Gone in 60 Seconds is only mildly intriguing, as are many of the scenes that compose the plot, the excellent cast along with a few key moments make it worth watching. I read the script a few months before the film came out and was excited because screenwriter Scott Rosenberg had actually taken the time and care to develop compelling characters. Unfortunately, either director Dominic Sena or producer Jerry Bruckheimer decided to cut most of it out, including an opening chase scene that served as a great setup for the rest of the film. I have a suspicion most moviegoers will walk out of the theater feeling as though something was missing, and they'll be right. I'm a little baffled as to why anyone would make the changes this script went through, but it still works to some degree in the end, just not nearly as well as it could have. (Warning: take my opinion with a grain of salt. It's very possible that I saw this film in a positive light only because I knew which elements were missing.)

As for the chase scenes, they're pretty good, but not as engaging as the ones in Ronin or even Go. If a movie is going to rely completely on the action, there should have been more of it, and it should've been more entertaining too.

The cast is the one real strong point in this film. Nicolas Cage is charismatic and will be appreciated by most moviegoers, but Angelina Jolie is useless to the plot and severely under-used. Giovanni Ribisi gives a pretty good performance considering the genre, and Robert Duvall is good too, although he is also under-used. Delroy Lindo contributes an extra bit of character to his role, playing the local cop in charge of stopping the car delivery.

Gone in Sixty Seconds is by no means a great action movie. It isn't as entertaining or compelling as something along the lines of The Rock, but it's still worth watching simply because it never attempts to become anything more. I recommend it to fans of Nicolas Cage or if you tend to enjoy movies that are produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.