Car-theft Lesson, Hollywood-style
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday July 14, 2000
Joshua Dowling wishes the movie itself had gone in 60 seconds.
We don't normally do movie reviews. But Gone In 60 Seconds has brought out the Bill Collins in us - and we feel obliged to register a protest on behalf of car enthusiasts and anyone who pays insurance.
Disguised as a movie, Gone In 60 Seconds is a step-by-step guide to stealing cars.
More disturbing than this, however, is that it appears to glorify car thieves: the people who cost the NSW community $300 million a year; the people who push up the premiums of every motorist; the people who police privately (and justifiably) refer to as "shitbags".
Gone in 60 Seconds? I would have called the cops in the first 10 minutes and ended the movie there.
The audience is supposed to be on the side of the car thieves, presumably because the baddies are stealing from the rich (we all hate rich people don't we?) and, presumably, because one of the main character's life is at risk if he doesn't steal 50 cars.
Excuse me? Why wouldn't you just call the police and tell them "Mr Evil is going to kill me if I don't steal all these cars?" Simple.
But no, Hollywood has to take us on a wild car chase and show those who didn't already know how to steal a car just that - how to steal a car.
Everything was covered, from hi-tech scanners which "read" car alarms and remote controls for garage doors to hot-wiring the indicators of older classics. To be thorough, the movie showed how police gather intelligence on the crooks.
It's a pity the research went in the wrong areas. It could have been a good movie.
As for suspension of disbelief ... what Honda Civic could possibly keep up with a Porsche 911? What US cop car could possibly keep up with a high-performance Shelby Mustang? The movie-makers couldn't even spell Boxster correctly.
There was a token shooting of a young "villain" half-way through the movie. No doubt this was to demonstrate that not everything is rosy in a car-stealing career.
But the audience ends up feeling sorry for this goose - who shouldn't have been hanging around shitbags like that in the first place.
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
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