{"id":135,"date":"2023-07-16T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/?p=135"},"modified":"2024-08-05T17:25:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T17:25:22","slug":"gone-in-60-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indycritic.com\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review – Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Premise<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A retired master car thief must come back to the industry and steal fifty cars with his crew in one night to save his brother’s life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overview<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Release<\/strong> \u2013 9 June, 2000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Runtime<\/strong> \u2013 118 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genre<\/strong> \u2013 Action\/Heist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NO Spoilers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was one of the earliest movies that I had watched on TV back in the day. So, re-watching it again after so long brought back the memories, the nostalgia. I still remember the opening credits to this day, and the song accompanying it \u2013 Flower<\/mark><\/a><\/em> <\/strong>by Moby. It\u2019s super catchy and groovy at the same time. And while I was getting hyped up by the song, here\u2019s what followed next –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie starts with Kip (Memphis\u2019s younger brother) and his companions stealing a Porsche 996, but they mess up by leading the police to their hideout, which in turn leads to the bust up of all the other cars they had stolen previously as well. While Kip and his gang escape the law for now, the job they had taken is now in complete tatters. The guy who had ordered the same is not happy at all, and he’s not to be messed with. He’s the new guy on the block, Raymond Calitri aka ‘The Carpenter’, and he’s really bad. When Randall “Memphis” Raines (Nicholas Cage; Kip’s older brother) learns that Kip has been kidnapped by Calitri, and that his younger brother’s life in is threat after messing up the big “boost”, he is forced to come back to the life he had once left behind for good, and try to do the impossible… before the clock runs out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proper “Grand Theft Auto” style (quite literally!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Memphis was a notorious, retired car thief… a grand theft auto specialist, the best car \u201cboost\u201d in the world. And as Calitri says when he first meets him –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Memphis Raines. Your legend precedes you. After you left, auto theft in the South Bay area went down 47%.”<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Geez! That\u2019s some numbers! Even for GTA, the game, this sounds quite mad, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now he’s back in action, but the job is not a piece of cake either, even for a man like Memphis. What\u2019s the job you ask? And how hard can it possibly be? Well, it’s to deliver 50 top-end cars (or \u201cladies\u201d as they are called in the movie) to Calitri for a sum of $200,000\u2026 in less than 72 hours. Seems impossible, no? Not for Memphis. But he will need all the help he can get… and help he does get. He assembles his old crew from the golden days, who had all found a new and legal job, along with Kip’s current crewmates. And the race against time commences!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let the countdown begin in Long Beach, California (as shown at the bottom of the screen during the film, a nice touch!) \u2013 72 hrs\u2026 48\u2026 24\u2026 12\u2026 10\u2026 6\u2026 3\u2026 2\u2026 1 hr\u2026 25 mins\u2026 4 mins\u202660 seconds…!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it’s not as easy as it seems. And as if it was not a difficult job already, there are two detectives from the auto theft bureau chasing after Memphis and his crew, waiting for a slip-up. Will Memphis make it in time? Or will he be gone\u2026 in 60 seconds? (excuse the bad pun!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some shots\/stills from the movie, including the list of all the 50 cars (top left)<\/em>, and ‘Eleanor’ (bottom right)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What was good?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n