Note: I haven’t written a review in about a month, so please bear with me.
Based on the 1974 film of the same name (which itself was based on the novel), The Taking of Pelham 123 is a gritty, violent, and all-around nail-biting thriller. It’s not a great one; one minute, it’s empty and contrived, the next, it’s enthralling and absorbing. However, stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta are convincing and intriguing enough to keep us interested throughout the full 105 minutes.
Not wasting any time on background or set-up, the opening scene, accompanied by Tony Scott’s trademark fast-paced direction, introduces us to Walter Garber (Washington), an ambitious, hard-working NYC subway dispatcher, and “Ryder,” the tattooed head honcho of a hijacking team played by Travolta. What seems like an ordinary day quickly turns catastrophic as Ryder gets onto Pelham 123 and proceeds to hold the nineteen passengers on board hostage.
At times cynical and aggressive (not to mention profane), Ryder contacts Garber and demands $10 million (or approximately $526,000 for each passenger) in cash in a deal made with the mayor (James Gandolfini). The deadline, despite Garber’s insistence on “Thursday,” is one hour; each minute afterwards results in another dead passenger. Just to prove he’s not full of BS, Ryder kills the motorman after the head of the hostage negotiation team (John Turturro) refuses to let him speak further with Walter.
As the film progresses, we learn more about both Garber, whose job is at stake after taking a bribe to help his family, and Ryder, who may be more than just a random “terrorist.” It’s times like these, though, that the suspense takes a breather. Do we really need to know why Ryder is what he is? Is it truly necessary to keep pushing the fact that Garber is just an ordinary guy (i.e.: promising his wife a half-gallon of milk by the end of the day)?
It also doesn’t help that certain plot points are a little too coincidental to really feel plausible. One of the passengers, for example, happens to have a laptop with a camera that can stream the action taking place onto a local news channel. Elsewhere, a woman and her son sit across from an African-American man whose air force ring turns out to be the same as her late husband’s.
Despite said contrivances, Pelham 123, with the help of terrific performances from Washington and Travolta and speedy direction from Scott, keeps us glued to the screen. We know fully well who’ll win out in the end, yet we can’t help but grip our seats in anticipation. We know Ryder is a fictional character, but Travolta portrays him with enough aggression that we end up being quite terrified of him.
All in all, the plot is a mixed bag, but as an edge-of-your-seat thriller, Pelham 123 easily prevails.
Rating: 7.5/10
