Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzman, Victor Gojcaj; Director: Tony Scott; Producers: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Tony Scott, Steve Tisch; Screenwriters: Brian Helgeland, John Godey; Music: Harry Gregson-Williams; Editor: Chris Lebenzon; Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller; Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler; Distributor: Columbia Pictures; Location: New York, USA; Running Time: 106 min.;Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18 and above
A psychopath with an axe to grind against New York City’s bureaucracy, Ryder (John Travolta) hijacks the subway train Pelham 123, aided by his band of thugs (Luis Guzman, Victor Gojcaj, Robert Vataj). With the 17 passengers and the train conductor held hostage, Ryder makes known his demands to the train dispatcher on duty, Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), a high ranking transit official facing suspension for suspicion of taking a bribe. Ryder wants $10 million within one hour, or he’ll kill the passengers one by one. When police hostage negotiator Lt. Jack Cambria (John Turturo) takes over as Garber goes off duty, Ryder reacts violently and shoots the conductor dead. He wants only to negotiate with Garber whose unruffled manner of dealing with him seems to rub the psychopath the right way.
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) is a second remake of the 1974 film, novelist John Godey’s best seller (with the same title) which was also made into a TV movie in 1998. For a psychological thriller with a lot of action thrown in, this version rather lacks the tension needed to evoke terror in the audience. Is it due to the lighting? The music? The photography? Perhaps Travolta as the hooligan boss doesn’t look menacing enough in spite of his handlebar moustache and the four-letter words he relentlessly spews out. When he flashes that smile at Washington, who’d believe he’s sick? Why, he looks “as normal as Kansas in August”—as amiable, in fact, as a headwaiter at an Italian pizza joint. The thugs racing to escape with bags of cash are captured to fast too soon. Washington is credible enough as the low-key Garber, sporting a pot belly for his family-man role, and speaking his lines as though he meant them.
This hijack movie is more about developing an odd friendship than collecting ransom. It seems providential that the calm train dispatcher happens to be on duty when the psychopath hijacker only needs to be listened to. Perhaps if his folks paid attention to him as a kid he wouldn’t be the criminal he is now, frittering away precious minutes making small talk with the negotiator. Well, not really that small, because it leads to a revelation—without which the story would just annoy you with cusswords that outnumber the bullets fired. Although the ending appears to be redemptive for both Ryder and Garber, the movie’s moral ambiguity should be pointed out. Ryder the psychopath is raised a Catholic, prays, then makes the right decision—fine. Garber risks his life and more than makes up for his past indiscretion—good. The ransom money is recovered—who could ask for more? But what about the body count? Cops dying in line of duty, hapless train passengers shot in cold blood as though in a video game. Due to the troubling content, CINEMA can only approve The Taking of Pelham 123 for mature audiences.
