The Taking of Pelham 123
Having not seen the original, I can’t and won’t try to compare. Or contrast for that matter. But I will give this one what it gave me: a run for the money. Expecting a weak script, an over-the-top performance from Travolta, and a conventional, stock story-line, I was, you may have guessed, very pleasantly surprised. It’s certainly a summer movie, more entertaining than enlightening, but it’s very enjoyable and may even have a kind of moral to it too.
The plot is ostensibly a fairly simple heist story, but there’s clearly more to this than meets the eye. Ryder (Travolta) and his posse (including Luis Guzman) hijack a subway train in New York City. A man named Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is the man who must deal with him. Garber is an ordinary guy, paying the mortgage, feeding his family. But there seems more to him than we see on the surface as well. As the story progresses, and it does progress, we learn that these people, and this situation, have more on the line, and that more will be revealed in the process, than we had anticipated. It is this, and another great performance from Washington, that really make this movie tick.
Tony Scott loves Denzel like Scorsese loves Leo. Well, maybe not quite that much. Though they appear to work well together over and over again, making compelling films that are certain to entertain. Man on Fire is another notable film that the two collaborated on. And like Man on Fire and Domino (which lacks Denzel), Taking of Pelham has many of the same idiosyncratic elements which mark a film as one of Tony Scott’s: jerky camera movements, rock-infused underscoring, a kind of hardcore flair for the melodramatic gesture without making a purely melodramatic film. I truly enjoy these auteur elements, and to me, they add to the kinds of stories that Scott likes to tell. And Denzel does what Samuel L. Jackson tries to do: command the screen. The two together, the director’s auteur flair and the actor’s command of the screen work hand in hand to tell exciting, emotional stories with characters we wish we could be. Walter Garber is an Everyman. But he possesses a subtle strength that is consistent across many of Denzel’s characters, from the aforementioned Man on Fire to John Q to even a more overtly powerful character like Frank Lucas in American Gangster. It is expected of Denzel Washington, and he always delivers. This one isn’t any different.
I’ve spoken a lot of Denzel, while leaving out the other headliner: John Travolta. Having not played a male, human character since Wild Dogs, and before that the sometimes hilarious Be Cool, Travolta definitely appeared to enjoy this role. He was stuck in the same setting for over an hour of the film, and he was able to keep it compelling. His character is nothing dramatically different from any other Heist Leader, but there is one thing gives him a slightly disturbing edge, which I won’t mention here for the sake of not spoiling the movie. The supporting roles were all pretty good, including John Turturro and Luis Guzman, among others, and the writing, while nothing substantially new, held my attention for the whole film.
It isn’t a great movie, but it is surprisingly good. It is very entertaining, and the theme that does eventually shine through is a double-edged sword. If you’re trying to decide whether to get a ticket or wait to rent, this one can wait. But if you need a good summer movie and don’t want to see Megan Fox again for some reason, then this isn’t a bad choice.
Rating: 2.5/4 Stars
