Stolen (2012)

A former thief frantically searches for his missing daughter, who has been kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a taxi.

Director:

Simon West

Writer:

David Guggenheim

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Malin Akerman, Josh Lucas

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolas Cage	...	Will Montgomery
Josh Lucas	...	Vincent
Danny Huston	...	Tim Harlend
Malin Akerman	...	Riley Jeffers
Sami Gayle	...	Alison Loeb
Edrick Browne	...	Jacobs
Mark Valley	...	Fletcher
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Reginald
M.C. Gainey	...	Hoyt
J.D. Evermore	...	Rookie
Garrett Hines	...	Aaron
Kevin Foster	...	Motorcycle Cop
Tanc Sade	...	Pete
Dan Braverman	...	Lefleur
Jon Eyez	...	Bertrand

Storyline

In New Orleans, the notorious bank thief and family man Will Montgomery steals $10m with his partners Vincent, Riley Jeffers and Hoyt. 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 organizes a manhunt and Will is captured, but he burns the stolen money to get rid of the evidence against him. Eight years later, Will leaves the prison and he goes to the house of his teenage daughter Alison Loeb, 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 $10m of the last robbery. Now Will has twelve hours to find a way to rescue his daughter from the hands of the psychopath Vincent.

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Plot Keywords:

presumed dead | money | teenage daughter | black comedy | father daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

Never steal from the world's greatest thief.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and brief language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The taxicabs in New Orleans do not have the taxicabs Number in the roof light. They are on the front and rear bumpers. While this was filmed on location, all of the taxicabs filmed had to have New York City roof lights installed, as part of the plot relied on this. The majority of the taxicabs however, were real local taxis, or automobile extras, If you like. The taxicabs that did volunteer for the service, were mostly independently owned and not fleet taxis, as the majority of them have advertising signs on the roof. Also Medallion Cab Company does not exist. Yellow, Checker taxi, and United cab company are some of the bigger New Orleans taxi companies.

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Goofs

In the final scene, the characters describe a 10 pound lump of gold as being worth $300,000. If the gold is worth $30,000 per pound, the duffel bag containing $10 million in gold would have weighed almost 340 pounds, too heavy for the characters to lift and drag around. (At the actual Feb 2012 gold price, the bag would have weighed 400 pounds.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Drunk Businessman: [drunk and singing] Cigarettes, no sleep, no lights, no sound... Nothing to eat, no one to drink... Sometimes... all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you.

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Connections

Referenced in Stolen: Cast and Crew Interviews (2013)

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Soundtracks

Grazin in the Grass
Performed by Panorama Brass Band
Courtesy of Panorama Brass Band

User Reviews

This is as generic as it gets. Nicolas Cage makes the movie watchable, just barely.

The revenge plot has been done to death. Kidnapping the protagonist's daughter has been done to death. Everything about this movie has been done before, and done much, much better. This is just another extortion movie where the former friend of a former bank robber wants his share of the heist, and kidnaps the hero's (Nicolas Cage) daughter as ransom. The thing is, Cage burned the money. So how is he going to pay this lunatic? Well, he's gotta commit one more heist for it to be all over. Sound predictable? That's because it is.

Every beat of this movie is predictable. It wouldn't be so bad if they added some depth to the characters but everything is so one-dimensional. Will (Nicolas Cage) loves his daughter and used to rob banks - that's all we get as far as character development. Vincent (played by Josh Lucas) wants money. They both were involved with a robbery gone wrong at the start of the film and Will burned the money before being arrested and jailed for eight years, but Vincent still wants his share. He waited eight years to exact his revenge. Eight. And the diabolical plan he came up with during that time is to kidnap Will's daughter and threaten to kill her if he doesn't get paid. It's like the writers weren't even trying.

What the writers do is explain EVERYTHING that's happening to the audience. They spoon-feed everything with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and this constitutes about 90% of the dialogue: Explaining what you are seeing on screen. The other 10% is forced relationships and throwaway police banter. It's really stupid. Watching the movie on mute is probably much more entertaining.

Let's talk about the villain for a minute because he's really quite a character, or caricature rather. He has no personality whatsoever so they give him all of these weird traits to mask the fact that he's boring as all f*ck. A metal stick for a leg, long messy hair, a rugged shady look, a twisted sense of morals, and he's a cab driver. It's like baby's first psychopath. Now I don't blame Josh Lucas for this at all, in fact he makes the character watchable, but not even good acting can save the villain from being a walking, talking cliché.

The police are just stupid in this. Stupider than usual in fact. They're not even worth talking about. All you need to know is that you know what you're getting into with this movie before it even starts and it gives you absolutely no surprises or suspense. It's a by-the-numbers action thriller with Nicolas Cage. It has a few funny moments sure, most are unintentional, but if you're hoping that this would at least be a fun, over-the-top Nicolas Cage action movie, then I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed. Stolen is overwhelmingly and sometimes painfully average.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swedish

Release Date:

6 September 2012 (United Arab Emirates)

Also Known As:

Medallion

Filming Locations:

Six Flags New Orleans - Six Flags Pkwy, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$183,125, 16 September 2012

Gross USA:

$304,318

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,415,418

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Millennium Films, Saturn Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1