Review of Stolen (2012) by Durell B — 02 Apr 2013

Lazy and generic. There was once a time Nicolas Cage chose roles that at the very least were fun. Amos & Andy was not a good movie but offered solid performances and a fun buddy dynamic between Cage and Samuel L.

Jackson. Con Air may not have been believable but Cage kept it fun and the supporting villains were in top form. What is truly unfortunate is that going into the late 90s to present; Cage began to take whatever was dropped on his desk.

I'm not certain Cage has an agent, but if he does, he or she needs to be fired and black listed from Hollywood. Every movie starring Francis Ford Coppola's nephew (Nicolas Cage) in the past decade has been depressing.

Ghost Rider 1&2, Wicker Man, Next, Bangkok Dangerous, Bad Lieutenant, Knowing, Snake Eyes, 8MM and of course, Stolen. Those are just the films I was able to list without looking at his filmography. Stolen was so brain dead and without a care that I thought I was watching edited pieces of every successful action movie in history.

It was standard, by the book heist material. Job gone wrong, jail time, big dilemma/ pulled back in, hunted down, regular Hollywood ending. Stolen follows Will Montgomery, (Cage) a master thief who pulls off a large heist but is left behind by his team, caught and sent to prison for 8 years.

Before being apprehended he allegedly gets rid of money. When released the cops want the money back and his team kidnaps his daughter because they want their share. As with any movie, you can turn the most basic concept into a workable and entertaining experience.

Stolen takes the audience for granted and never matures past a dull, almost comedic rescue mission. Taken is far from a good movie but it breathed fresh air into a by the numbers actions movie by making Neeson cold, calculated and marketing the now famous phone call to his daughter's kidnapper.

Stolen never makes an attempt at being anything more than an average, barely C grade action flick with Cage giving his usual performance. But despite all my criticism, if its rainy and you have a cold, you can do much worse than Stolen.

I say this begrudgingly but it does have enough steam to keep you entertained. Just don't look for any intelligence, decent writing or good story. Sit there and let it watch you, but just once.