Movie Review - The Taking Of Pelham 123

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Hollywood loves a remake almost as much as they love a sequel.  Why?  Because (presumably) they’re easy. They have built in awareness, established fan bases and are easier to market.  However, more often than not, Hollywood makes the mistake of remaking great films: Psycho, The Manchurian Candidate, Sabrina, Mr. Deed.  These are (or shall we say were) great films.  What could even the most talented filmmaker bring to a remake of films like those?  This is why The Taking Of Pelham 123 is so enticing.  The original, buoyed by strong performances from Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, was a good movie but by no stretch of the imagination was it a great movie.  It was an original, fantastical idea (at the time) and had a clever little twist of an ending.  But it certainly never seeped into the public consciousness the way similar ‘70s era films like Serpico or The French Connection did. 

The premise, for those of you unaware, is simple: a man going by “Ryder” (John Travolta) hijacks a New York City subway car (Pelham 123) and attempts to negotiate a ransom via subway dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington).  Ryder takes an immediate liking to Garber and refuses to speak to anyone but him.  But that affinity doesn’t diminish his demands.  NYC has one hour to get $10 million in cash to Ryder or he’ll start killing one passenger per minute.

While the premise was fresh in 1974, it’s pretty standard fare (no pun intended) these days.  America isn’t going to plunk down their hard-earned $9 for a premise; they want to see Denzel and Travolta go head-to-head.  And go head-to-head they do.  Though the two share a physical space for all of about 5 minutes, they have ample screen time together.  Turning in, what is probably, his best performance since Get Shorty; Travolta reminds us why he is a movie star.  He clearly relishes his role as a villain.  Sure, there’s some scenery-chewing.  But what did you expect; he’s hijacking a subway train.  Ibsen this ain’t.

Meanwhile, Washington has a somewhat more thankless role playing straight-man to Travolta.  But he’s a seasoned enough actor to know that a rising tide lifts all boats.  Making Travolta look good, in turn, makes Washington look good.  Appearing frumpy and thirty pounds overweight, Washington is undoubtedly at a point in his career where he has to know that he has nothing to prove.  And this knowledge is freeing.  Make no mistake, Washington gets to have fun too, but the juicier role unequivocally belongs to Travolta. 

Director Tony Scott, with his stylized jump-cuts and constantly moving camera, does an excellent job of making what is a fairly “talky” affair feel energetic.  As the film opens, Scott shrewdly uses Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” to announce his intention to update.  (Although I was upset that film didn’t include Beastie Boys’ “Sure Shot”; a glaring omission seeing as how that song name-checks the film.)  The Taking Of Pelham 123 is surprisingly faithful to the original.  The first two-thirds of the film hew closely to that of its predecessor.  Even a subplot about NYC’s put-upon mayor (James Gandolfini) remains intact.  The film moves in a different direction for its resolution.  And, though I preferred the original’s ending, Scott’s version is satisfying even if it doesn’t pack quite the same punch.  Taking Of Pelham 123 is, like its precursor, a good film but not a great one.  Washington and Travolta are great fun to watch.  And Scott keeps everything moving at brisk pace despite the films requisite talkative nature. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, with Dog Day Afternoon being a 10 and Money Train being a 1, The Taking Of Pelham 123 gets a 7.

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