By Marcus Reynaga
Story
The improbably named Memphis Raines (
Nicolas Cage) was a legendary auto thief until -- you guessed it -- he gave up his corrupt ways and went straight in the time-honored tradition of sympathetic Hollywood crooks. Now his kid brother (
Giovanni Ribisi) is in deep doo-doo with a fearsome British hood (
Christopher Eccleston), and Memphis is forced to make one of the more ridiculous bargains in crime movie history: Either he goes out and boosts 50 high-end cars or the bad guys will whack his bro.
Acting
Fat paychecks from mega-producer
Jerry Bruckheimer ensured this cast would be packed with talented actors, including
Cage,
Ribisi,
Angelina Jolie,
Delroy Lindo and
Robert Duvall. No one is particularly good, no one is particularly bad -- just a little bored.
Cage, who previously starred for
Bruckheimer in "The Rock" and "Con Air," sleepwalks through his least inspired performance in recent memory. Supporting players such as
Jolie and
Duvall are strictly window dressing to class up this shameless commercial venture.
Direction
While helmer
Dominic Sena ("Kalifornia") isn't quite as in-your-face with the hyperactive MTV style as past
Bruckheimer henchmen
Michael Bay ("Armageddon") and
Tony Scott ("Enemy of the State"), all the producer's trademarks are here -- the glossy TV commercial visuals, the pounding rock music, the simplistic characterizations cynically aiming for the lowest common denominator. It's all very polished on the technical level, and
Sena delivers some high-octane. Too bad there's that dull 90-minute chunk of dramatic build-up to sit through first.