Stolen

In New Orleans, the notorious bank thief and family man Will Montgomery (Nicolas Cage) steals ten million-dollar with his partners Vincent (Josh Lucas), Riley Jeffers (Malin Akerman) and Hoyt (M.C. Gainey). However, he has an argument with Vincent in the runaway and Hoyt leaves Will behind. He tries to flee but the FBI agent Tim Harlend (Danny Huston) organizes a manhunt and Will is captured, but he burns the stolen money to get rid of the evidences against him.

Eight years later, Will leaves the prison and he goes to the house of his teenage daughter Alison Loeb (Sami Gayle), who has issues against him. Alison leaves Will alone in a coffee shop and takes a cab to go to a session with her shrink. However, a couple of minutes later, Will receives a phone call from Vincent, who is presumed dead, telling that he has abducted Alison and will kill her unless he receives the ten million-dollars of the last robbery. Now Will has twelve hours to find a way to rescue his daughter from the hands of the psychopath Vincent.

"Stolen" is a predictable, flawed, full of clichés but also entertaining action movie with Nicolas Cage in the lead role. This is the type of movie where the viewer can guess what is going to happen on the next scene but nevertheless is not as bad as I expected. I really did not understand how the cellular with GPS that was left in the train to Tallahassee was back again with Will Montgomery and how the handcuff on his left hand has vanished. Further, how many golden bars have been easily melted, hardened and carried in a bag? At least, seeing the gorgeous Swedish actress Malin Akerman makes this forgettable movie worth. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Resgate" ("The Ransom")

Nicolas Cage is one of those A-list classified actors that somehow manage to churn movies out left and right no matter the quality or subject matter. His over the top persona is most likely the biggest reason delivering some memorable characters whether you like him or not. The trailer for his latest Stolen comes off more like a rehash of Taken, but with Cage's added unique character delivery and Expendables 2 director Simon West in the mix could it give something a bit more or will it be another in a long line of low end releases to Cage's career?

Stolen follows a former thief frantically searching for his missing daughter, who has been kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a taxi, while trying to avoid FBI agents convinced he is lying and looking to find the money he stole 8 years prior. While the story seems like Taken it really isn't. Yeah there are similarities, but really no more than there is in tons of other action thrillers in this genre. The story here is more straight-forward and on a smaller scale, but still works fairly well. Cage delivers a bit more of a relaxed performance, but still manages to execute some of his over the top performance in there from time to time. Luckily it's usually when it is needed so doesn't distract too much from the overall film. The supporting cast is pretty good featuring Malin Ackerman, Mark Valley, Danny Huston, and Josh Lucas who seemed to take over with the over the top delivery here. While a bit silly at times, Lucas character still works decently. What really make this film work at all are the decent action and the clever robbery scenarios. It has become pretty rare to deliver something all that interesting in film bank jobs, but here they did some pretty creative stuff.

This is a pretty average action thriller, but works well enough to have some fun. Most likely this only got theatrical release thanks to West's success on Expendables 2 and Cage's name, because on some levels it really feels more like a straight to video release. Either way, fans of Cage will have a good time and most likely everyone else will have mixed opinions.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

If you are wondering, "Why is Nicolas Cage starring in a movie that only got a token theatrical release before being dumped on DVD?", well, from what I've heard, Cage's overspending combined with a massive tax debt has made him take less prestigious projects in order to raise money. Actually, I had high hopes for this movie, because it was a production from Millennium Films, a company that often makes high quality action movies. However, this movie is one of their rare misses. Technically, the movie is above average for a movie aimed primarily at the DVD market. However, the basic story has been told so many times before that there are few surprises this time around. Most likely you'll be impatient long before the end because at times the movie seems to be stretching things out. Also, Cage's character never really becomes sympathetic - you'll never get involved in his plight and be rooting for him. And this is yet another movie where filmmakers don't know how heavy gold bars are in real life! Let's hope Cage managed to pay off his debts with this movie so he can be free to pick more quality projects.

The plot is rather simple and not original, but chases during and within Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans are interesting to watch (here, adding the carnival does make sense, in most other movies it is just meant to confuse viewers and chasers). However, the "final end" could have been different, more sophisticated.

Nicholas Cage is good as usual, but the real star (and best villain) of the movie is John Lucas - vicious inside and outside. Female characters tend to be sketchy, although actresses do their best.

An OK movie for killing time, but it is neither Heat nor Snatch or similar. A typical Cage-related action.

Y A N C M

Nicolas Cage made some good movies a while ago. Not this one.

End of story.

Long story: It's not all that interesting. The plot is like junk food -- dulls the mind, weakens the heart -- unsatisfying. The action is dreary and slow. Even the attempts at slowing down the pace are annoying. The absurd characterization of an Australian is ridiculous. The sound track is stolen from "The Saint" and Val Kilmer. The pretense of a hectic "Fat Tuesday" is idiotic. The visual effects stolen from "Heat" are disconnected from the action. Each character is a grotesque cliché. Each plot step is predictable.

Yet Another Nicolas Cage Movie.

Here's hoping he delivers a couple more good ones eventually.