A quick note...I had a free coupon to rent a movie from one of those Redbox machines, so I used it to rent The Taking of Pelham 123. That's why technically this isn't a NMR and why I'll do a bit longer review for this one. I know that's totally arbitrary reasoning, but hey it's my blog, so my rules.
So this is a remake/reimagining of the 1974 Walter Mathau film of the same name. This time around it's John Travolta who hijacks a NYC subway and Denzel Washington, playing the subway dispatcher who is trying to stop him. These two actors have been around long enough to know how to play these characters convincingly. The strength of the film lies in the interplay between them. There are several scenes involving them engaging in conversations about their pasts, their beliefs, and their roles in this situation. Anytime the film gives them this time to do some character disection, the film works. You get drawn in to the games each of them are trying to play in order for this whole ordeal to play out the way they want it to go.
Unfortunately, those moments of dialogue and continuously interrupted with frenetic action scenes that do not really add anything to the film. Travolta's character is demanding a large sum of money, so we see several scenes of the caravan of cop cars racing through NYC in order to get him the money to him before he kills one of his hostages. These scenes, shot with a whip-like nature, are so disparagingly different from the scenes of dialogue between the two main characters that you begin to wonder if you're watching two different films.
You can credit director Tony Scott for the nature of these action sequences. They have his fingerprints all over them. The quick jumps, the zoom maps, the abrupt crashes all here once again, just like they are in so many of his other films. In some cases, like with Enemy of the State, a story needs the infusion of adrenaline that Scott's style can bring. For a film like this or Spy Game, it's just over the top and unnecessary. This could have been such a better film if it just had more faith in letting the actors tell a good story.
In addition to Washington and Travolta, you also get some reliable performances from guys like John Tuturro and James Gandolfini in supporting roles. Gandolfini, playing the mayor of New York, has a particularly engaging performance. There seemed to be a lot more to this guy than just being a figurehead and I wish the film would have delved into his character more.
Like so many action movies, there are a lot of plot holes/gaps in logic. And things kind of break down as the film heads to its conclusion. In a lot of cases, I can look past these indiscretions if the rest of the film is entertaining. However, in this case, those problems got amplified when they are being done with in the hyperkinetic style that Scott used for this film.
There are certainly a lot worse action movies that are made. And the performances by the leads are strong enough to make this worthy of a rental if you're looking for some action. It's just a shame that Tony Scott felt it was necessary to ramp up the adrenaline when a more quite, cerebral film with this story would have worked just fine. Grade: C+
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