The Movie Guys: Cars are the scene-stealers in ‘60 Seconds’

Friday, June 9, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

The Movie Guys, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun. They can also be seen on the 11 a.m. Friday newscast on KVVU Channel 5. Plus, check them out online at lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/ movies and themovieguys.com.

Synopsis: Automobile aficionado Randall Memphis Raines is a retired car thief of legendary proportions. For years Memphis eluded the law while boosting every make and model imaginable. When the heat became too intense he abandoned his life of crime and left everything and everyone he loved to find a different life. Now, when his kid brother tries to follow in his footsteps, only to become dangerously embroiled in a high stakes caper, Raines is sucked back into his old ways -- in order to save his brother's life.

Jeff: Ever wonder how to steal a car? Not just any old car, but the really sweet high performance cars such as Porches and Mercedes. Here's your chance! Producer Jerry Bruckheimer gives you a crash course in this wall-to-wall, high-speed ride through the streets of Long Beach. Director Dominic Sena tweaks the tired car chase and puts a creative and amusing spin in this pedal-to-the-metal action saga.

This is your quintessential Hollywood blockbuster with an Academy Award-winning cast (Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall), but the real stars are the cars. Meet Diane (Ferrari 355B), Madeline (Cadillac El Dorado), Mary (Aston Martin), Grace (Rolls-Royce) and the ever-desirable Eleanor, the rare collectible Shelby Mustang GT 500. These are just a few of the 50 cars that Raines (Cage) must steal with his team of thieves in just one night. Can it be done? That's half the fun.

Dave: The opening scene sets the film's thematic action when a failed car heist places the younger brother of a respected auto thieve in a compromising position. With no other concern but to meet his quota with his fellow dealers, the ominous Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston) forces Raines out of retirement to steal the coveted list of eccentric cars within three days of the promised delivery.

Out of the game for the past six years Raines must work from scratch and recruit his old team, which includes his old mentor Otto (Duvall, no stranger to a Bruckheimer production with 1990's "Days of Thunder"), his best friend Donny (Chi McBride), a muscle-bound mute named Sphinx ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' " Vinnie Jones) and his ex-girlfriend, Sway (Jolie, sporting the popular dreadlocks look), who wants nothing to do with rekindling her past.

And if the ticking clock wasn't enough to contend with, the head of the Los Angeles auto theft task force, Detective Roland Castlebeck (portrayed by Delroy Lindo), is hot on their trail. By reuniting Bruckheimer and Cage, the duo behind the successful films "The Rock" (1996) and "Con Air" (1997), the film undoubtably possesses the needed fuel for another explosive action flick.

Jeff: While the action is convincing and the character development is well-thought out I still have a problem with the film's PG-13 rating. It was too safe and sane. Sure, the producers want repeat business from ticket-buyers under 18 who don't have to lug their parents along to get in the movie, but parts of "Gone In 60 Seconds" seem too tame for a Bruckheimer movie. I wanted more profanity, sex and senseless violence.

During numerous car chasespolice cars are smashed into oncoming city buses, and one is even smashed through a brick wall by a wrecking ball. The film halts momentarily to check on the officers and ask if they are OK. Of course they are, because of the PG-13 rating. When bullets fly no one is killed, even when an L.A. gang is gunning for Raines and his bunch -- they all get away without a scratch. I kept wondering if this film was factual or not, and if it was based on actual car-boosting techniques. I once saw on "20/20" how to successfully remove the Club from a steering wheel, but I never knew about laser-cut car keys ... until now. I didn't know stealing cars could be so easy.

Dave: Well, Jeff, I seriously doubt stealing cars is as easy as Cage and company make the job out to be, let alone that this simple summer fare will encourage its audience into a life of crime. Granted, I'll give you the fact that the movie was missing a slight gritty edginess that have made a majority of Bruckheimer's glossy films the sort of testosterone motif that have restructured the action genre.

However, the film focuses more on the brotherly relationship between Cage and Ribisi, leaving love interest Jolie as an extra commodity that really serves little purpose other than to add another A-list name to the bill. Besides, the real love interest is Eleanor, the 1967 Shelby Mustang that seems to be the one automobile Raines has never obtained without something going wrong.

Keeping in line with the 1974 cult hit of the same title which the film is based on, video-director pioneer Sena's (1993's "Kalifornia") eye for action and slick photography match the films Bruckheimer is synonymous with, making "Gone in 60 Seconds" a high-octane thrill ride.