Review of Stolen (2012) by Clarisesamuels — 04 Apr 2013

If you like Nicolas Cage, you will like Stolen, because it is vintage Cage with a capital “C.” He swaggers, he sweats, and he suffers over ethical dilemmas. Just when you think he is a hardened criminal who has seen it all, it turns out he has a soft spot for his little girl.

After getting out of jail, he stops to buy her a teddy bear before turning up at her doorstep for the first time ime in eight years, which might be why he was a little out of touch with the fact that she is now a teenager who wears make-up and sees a psychiatrist.

Now in his late forties in real life, Cage has not lost his style or his boyish looks, nor has he lost his perfect timing or his mellow voice with that laid-back Californian lilt. There is something comforting about Nicolas Cage in his role of Will Montgomery.

As an antihero who is a thieving genius with a heart of gold, this is a role that Cage can play with his hands tied behind his back, but it is still a lot of fun to watch him at work. Cage's Will Montgomery makes it clear that robbing banks is simply something he does because he can earn a living while he uses his criminal brilliance to outsmart the system.

But he refuses to kill or hurt anyone. This gets him in trouble with his closest associate who wants to shoot a witness at the scene of the crime. “We're not killers,” says Will Montgomery as he drags his comrade away by force.

The movie has typical superhero-type problems with realism, as Will tracks down a vengeful madman who has abducted his daughter, but the script does make an attempt to give logical explanations for the action.

Although Will Montgomery has his own bizarre form of ethics, in his chase scenes he causes so many car accidents that it is a stretch to think he never hurt anyone. But he never turns a gun on any innocent party, and his primary role is that of father.

In his own weird way, Will is just trying to support his family. Will is the nemesis of FBI agent Tim Harlend, played by Danny Huston. The chemistry between these two foes is perfect as they develop a grudging respect for each other.

Malin Akerman is the smart and feisty Riley who emerges as Will's love interest. (There is a strange cell phone conversation where the two slip into Swedish to avoid detection. No explanation is offered for this detail, except it turns out that Akerman has Swedish roots in real life.

) And Josh Lucas does a great job as the crazed Vincent, a good thief gone rogue. The film holds your interest and is highly entertaining, although there are a few places that may cause viewers to groan a bit.

However, it is refreshing to see a violent action film where violence is abhorred by the bad guy himself. The contradictions that arise from this antithetical position make Nicolas Cage's character a lot more interesting than he might have been otherwise.