Stolen (2012 film)

Stolen is a 2012 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, Danny Huston, Malin Åkerman, M. C. Gainey, Sami Gayle, Mark Valley and Josh Lucas. The film follows a former thief who has 12 hours to find $10 million and save his daughter from his former partner. It was released in the United States on September 14, 2012.

Plot
In New Orleans, Will Montgomery and Vincent Kinsey are preparing for a heist, aided by Riley, their getaway driver, and Hoyt, a computer security expert. They are watched by FBI agent Tim Harland, who knows that Will and Vincent have been casing a jewelry store for several weeks and plans to arrest them mid-crime.

Will and Vincent break into the neighboring toy store, blowing the adjacent wall. Harland gives them a few minutes before sending his agents into the jewelry store, but Will and Vincent are not there, having instead used the toy store to gain access to a bank. In the vault, Will collects $10 million in wrapped bills and drags away Vincent, who had been eyeing a stack of gold bars. They come across a janitor in a back alley. Vincent attempts to kill the man, but Will stops him, and Vincent accidentally shoots himself in the leg. As their escape van pulls up, Vincent gets in and drives off, leaving Will stranded. With the money and the FBI closing fast, he burns the money in a trash fire. After a car chase, Will is cornered in an abandoned building. Agents arrest him but find no evidence of the money.

Eight years later, Will is released from prison. Harland takes him back to New Orleans by Harland, who warns Will he will be watched carefully, as the FBI believing he stashed the $10 million before his arrest. Will returns to his daughter Alison, finding that she is struggling with abandonment issues. She refuses to let him talk to her, instead handing over a package addressed to him that was left there that morning. She goes off in a taxi, which is shown to have been trailing Will since his release.

Will goes to a nearby bar where Riley is working. A cell phone in the package rings; the caller reveals himself to be Vincent, driver of the taxi. He demands the $10 million from the heist within 12 hours or he will kill Alison. Vincent says he will be tracking Will via the phone and will make regular calls that Will must answer or his daughter will die. Vincent drugs Alison and locks her in the taxi's trunk (killing a motorcycle cop in the process).

Will, aware that Harland's men are also following him, uses the Fat Tuesday celebration to escape. He purchases a second cell phone to redirect calls from the first, then plants the first phone on a leaving train to throw Vincent's tracking off. Will explains the situation to Harland, vowing that he burnt the $10 million just before he was arrested, and asks for help. Harland rejects this, showing that Vincent was reported dead a year prior, a burnt body identified by DNA.

Will is forced to steal FBI credentials to find the current address of Hoyt, who is revealed to be working with Vincent and helping to track the phone. They fight before the FBI agents arrive and kill Hoyt. Will escapes, then talks to the taxi dispatcher, where they help identify Vincent's taxi and current location. In a celebration parade, Will finds that the taxi belongs to another driver, and that Vincent has masked the taxi number and stashed his cab's GPS system in the car.

Will is captured again by Harland's men, but when they do not let him answer Vincent's call, Will grabs the phone and escapes after overpowering Harland's men and causing the car to crash. Will tells Vincent the money is gone, but that he will come up with it somehow. With Riley's help, Will tunnels below the bank they'd robbed for the $10 million, using a thermal lance to melt enough gold to pay the ransom. The fire alarm goes off, alerting the FBI. They escape.

Will takes the gold to Vincent at an abandoned amusement park. Vincent lights the taxi on fire with Alison still inside. Will and Vincent fight, and Will takes a gunshot. He douses Vincent in gasoline and sets him ablaze. He drives the taxi straight into Vincent, then into a nearby pond.

As he races to free Alison from the submerging vehicle, Will is attacked by Vincent. Will impales him on a crowbar which he uses to free Alison from the trunk. Harland arrives by helicopter, assuring Alison that her father will be okay, convinced as he now is of Vincent's guilt.

Later, Will, Riley, and Alison are enjoying an afternoon barbecue, watched by Harland from a distance because some of the bank gold is still missing. Will finds a chunk of the melted gold in Riley's truck—the missing amount—and he and Riley debate whether to keep it or throw it away. After hesitating, Will appears to throw the gold into the bayou. Harland quits monitoring him. Unknown to Harland, Will threw away a decoy, leaving the nugget on the table.

Cast

 * Nicolas Cage as Will Montgomery
 * Danny Huston as Agent Tim Harland
 * Malin Åkerman as Riley Simms
 * Sami Gayle as Alison Montgomery
 * Mark Valley as Agent Fletcher
 * M. C. Gainey as Donald Hoyt
 * Josh Lucas as Vincent Kinsey
 * Tanc Sade as Peter
 * Demetrice J. Nguyen as Mark
 * Sam Velasquez as Knuckles

Production
Filming began March 2012 in New Orleans. It was released in U.S. theaters on September 14, 2012, and by Lionsgate in the UK on March 22, 2013.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 20% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 4.01/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Stolen was a box office bomb in the United States, receiving little publicity and grossing just $183,125 across 141 screens on its opening weekend. The film was pulled from theaters after two weeks, making a total of $304,318. The film grossed $17,967,746 worldwide.