The Taking of Pelham 123 (Sony Pictures)
Top Rate Action Combined With Top Rate Acting
John Travolta and Denzel Washington are at the top of their game in the new movie The Taking of Pelham 123. Combine that with fast paced direction from Tony Scott and you have a super summertime movie. The film is a retelling of the 1974 film of the same name that starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, but there are distinct differences in this new production.
The film starts with a man named Ryder (Travolta) hijacking a subway line under the city of New York. He takes eighteen hostages and demands ten million dollars as ransom. The City has one hour to meet his demands or he will start killing hostages. He is not kidding.
When he phones in his demands the man who answers the call is Walter Garber (Washington). Garber has his own problems with the subway management in that he has been accused of taking a bribe and is under investigation. Still he does his best to calm Ryder down and make progress in getting the hostages released.
The big change in this film is the back stories of the lead characters. It gives the film more depth and adds to the audiences involvement. It also shifts most of the emphasis away from subordinate characters such as the mediator (John Turturro), the Mayor (James Gandolfini) and Ryders co-conspirator Phil Ramos (Luis Guzman). The film is basically a duel between the two lead characters and that is where the focus stays.
Travolta is chilling as the psychopath who holds eighteen peoples lives at risk. He is rough looking, profane and coldly calculating. He seems friendly enough at times but that is a front. Underneath he is evil to the bone and Travolta gets every nuance right.
Washington is the heart of the film as Garber. He has his faults but overall he is a truly decent human being. You are pulling for Garber from the moment he is introduced on screen and your feelings for him never falter.
The film is rated R for profanity and violence.
Tony Scott keeps the action moving from the first instances of the film until the last. He films it all at a frenetic pace and uses car crashes and violent acts to jolt the viewer from time to time. But the action never diminishes the solid plot of the film, and it never overwhelms the superb acting that is occurring.
The Taking of Pelham 123 is a solidly entertaining movie that is made even better by the acting talents on view. Scott serves up a fast-paced, tense story but Travolta and Washington elevate it even more with their skills.
I scored The Taking of Pelham 123 a speeding 7 out of 10.
