Stolen (feat. Nicolas Cage)

Stolen tells the story of bank robber Will Montgomery, played by Nicolas Cage. He gets busted while his accomplices run free, and to prevent a harsher sentence, Will burns the money. After all, he has a beloved daughter, and doesn't want to miss out on her entire upbringing. Fast forward 8 years and daughter Alison, played by Sami Gayle, is less than forgiving. Neither are Will's accomplices, who along with some FBI members, think the money's hidden somewhere.

In fact one of such accomplices has grown bitter enough to fake his own death and kidnap sweet, adorable Alison, for a ransom of ten million dollars. So Will has to come up with the money, but how? All he knows how to do is rob banks? To make matters worse, it's Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. So the premise is pretty all right, but nothing is especially well executed in this film. And I have a hard time rooting for a protagonist who thinks with his trigger finger. The action is all right, directed by Con-Air's Simon West, whose craft hasn't grown much since the 90s.

There are no surprises whatsover, and it feels like the only demographic for this film are guys who like seeing cute teenage girls drugged and locked in trunks of cards. Sami Gayle's performance, while often overdone, feels like the only thing in this movie that isn't phoned in. Cage is all right, doing his action and all, but he doesn't do anything new or special. Even if you're part of the specific demographic, Stolen's a tough sell.

Also, I'm going to tweak this list. Primal is ranked too high. Left Behind and Knowing are both ranked too low. Even the flawed logic in The Family Man has a small impact on its general enjoyability.

  1. Raising Arizona
  2. Leaving Las Vegas
  3. Red Rock West
  4. Adaptation
  5. Pig
  6. Birdy
  7. Wild at Heart
  8. Joe
  9. National Treasure
  10. Guarding Tess
  11. Snake Eyes
  12. Dog Eat Dog
  13. Color Out of Space
  14. Mom and Dad
  15. World Trade Center
  16. Peggy Sue Got Married
  17. Zandalee
  18. Prisoners of the Ghostland
  19. City of Angels
  20. Willy's Wonderland
  21. Captain Corelli's Mandolin
  22. Bangkok Dangerous
  23. Drive Angry
  24. Army of One
  25. Lord of War
  26. Gone in 60 Seconds
  27. Matchstick Men
  28. Vampire's Kiss
  29. Con Air
  30. Face/Off
  31. Trapped in Paradise
  32. The Boy in Blue
  33. Honeymoon in Vegas
  34. Deadfall
  35. Amos and Andrew
  36. Moonstruck
  37. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
  38. Knowing
  39. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
  40. Bringing Out the Dead
  41. The Family Man

  42. Stolen

  43. It Could Happen to You
  44. 8mm
  45. The Frozen Ground
  46. Left Behind
  47. Primal
  48. Grand Isle
  49. Looking Glass
  50. Arsenal
  51. Between Worlds
  52. Ghost Rider
  53. Trespass
  54. The Humanity Bureau
  55. Next
  56. The Weather Man
  57. 211
  58. Fire Birds
  59. The Croods
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