When Liam Neeson's daughter is kidnapped, she's taken. When
it's Nic Cage's daughter, she's stolen.
Stolen is the
latest piece of cinematic schlock starring Nicolas Cage, who just cannot say
'no' anymore. Cage returns to New Orleans, his stomping grounds for past films Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
and Seeking Justice. Here, Cage plays
Will Montgomery, the brains behind a bank robbery gang that includes Vincent
(Josh Lucas), Hoyt (perennial character actor M.C. Gainey), and blonde
bombshell Riley (Malin Akerman). His latest heist is boosting $10 million all
while the gang is under surveillance by the FBI. The job might have gone down
smoothly if Vincent hadn't tried to kill a janitor who just happened to be in
the wrong place at the wrong time. Will saves the man's life and leads the cops
on a merry chase as his cohorts escape. He serves eight years in prison and
returns to find his now-teenage daughter, Alison (Sami Gayle), wants nothing to do
with him.
Vincent has also returned to kidnap Alison, locking her in
the trunk of a stolen cab moving through the city. In exchange for the girl,
Vincent demands the return of the $10 million. Poor Will burned all the money
before being arrested to receive a lesser sentence. The feds don't buy his
story and with no other choice Will enlists the aid of Riley for another heist
to get the ransom.
Stolen is a
low-rent effort for Simon West, who just came off The Expendables 2 and previously worked with Cage on Con Air, an enjoyably mindless flick
from the Bruckheimer action factory. For all the shootouts and car chases, Stolen remains utterly lifeless. The
script by David Guggenheim (who also wrote Safe House) is rife with plot holes and feels slapped together at the last
minute. Apparently, nothing in New Orleans has changed in the eight years of Will's incarceration.
Even in his worst pictures, Cage can be an entertaining
train wreck when he's allowed to be unleashed. Unfortunately, there's nothing
for Cage to latch onto with such a bland protagonist. The only thing remotely
resembling a Cage-ism is the character's penchant for listening to Creedence
Clearwater Revival. If only he could have switched roles with Josh Lucas, who
starred in another movie titled Stolen
in 2009. Once a handsome bad boy, Vincent went off the deep end and resurfaces
as a disheveled psycho with one leg. That's the kind of scene chewing part that
could have given us another in a long line of loony Nic Cage performances.
Wasting away in the supporting cast are Mark Valley and
Danny Huston as the FBI agents assigned to watch Will. For some reason, Huston
spends the entire movie wearing a pork pie hat like he's Popeye Doyle.
If only someone had stolen the original negatives for Stolen and burned them. This is such a
stinker that it makes you long for more masterful Nic Cage works like Season of the Witch or Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Rating: * (*****)
No comments:
Post a Comment