movies
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday January 11, 2010
Gone in 60 Seconds(2000) Seven, 9.30pmAny viewer with a flitter of self-respect will be gone from this shameful shower of cliches and macho narcissism within 60 seconds of the opening frame. It's a stupid bourbon commercial of a film made for adolescent boys by adolescent boys about adolescent boys unable to mature but totally capable of justifying their excesses and giving some substance to their pose. Randall "Memphis" Raines (Nicolas Cage) has just hit town after an absence of six years for his involvement in the grand theft auto trade (or however they glorify car stealing these days) but his past reputation won't conveniently dissolve. His younger brother is in cahoots with some unsavoury types in the veehickle theft industry and to save him from a life of crime (Onward Christian Soldiers in your V8s!) Randall orchestrates the theft of 50 highly desirable cars on a shopping list compiled by English crooks. An ace detective with some sense of fair play latches on to the scam as it kicks into gear. The esteemed Robert Duvall makes a liar of me by appearing in a total dud, while Angelina Jolie does a passable imitation of Kylie Minogue's Charlene Mitchell as the babe in overalls. The original 1974 film had a great car chase (for its day) and this one is pretty well all car chase. The climactic fang sequence is exhausting but there's no escaping the fact that Gone in 60 Seconds is a bomb.A Bittersweet Life(2005) SBS Two, 11.15pmSun-woo acts as the right-hand man of a senior crime figure in Seoul. When his employer leaves on a business trip, he entrusts Sun-woo with ensuring his mistress, Hee-soo, a promising young cellist, doesn't make beautiful music with anyone else. After a brief time in her company, Sun-woo falls for Hee-soo and when he later discovers she is having an affair with another man, he hesitates. His duty lies with his boss but his affection is with Hee-soo. His subsequent decision to spare her the repercussions of revealing her indiscretion precipitates a massive gangland conflict. As a consequence of trying to ingratiate himself with the girl, he finds himself in the cross-hairs of all his gangland mates. Lee Byung-hun stars as Sun-woo with Shin Min-a as Hee-soo. A remake of Kim Ji-woon's action adventure is said to already be in the works.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald
Share This