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A good actor can make even the dullest of films seem satisfying. That is true of Denzel Washington, who scene after scene single-handedly manages to make The Taking Of Pelham 123 at least watchable from start to finish.

Washington, in his fourth collaboration with director Tony Scott (Crimson Tide, Man On Fire, Deja Vu), stars as Walter Garber, a dispatcher for the Manhattan Transit Authority. He gets roped into being a terrorist negotiator when a mysterious gunman named Ryder (John Travolta) and his men take control of the New York City subway 6 train and its passengers, demanding $10 million in exchange for their lives.

I liked the opening, which consisted of Scott's hyper-kinetic visuals and Jay-Z's '99 Problems', but that was the only point that I genuinely felt excited about the outcome of this film.

It's not that I dislike hijack/hostage movies, and it's not like this remake of the 1974 thriller of the same name is particularly bad; the film just feels unnecessary because nothing particularly noteworthy happens. I haven't seen the original, but Denzel and his co-star Travolta spend a majority of the film throwing verbal jabs at one another; Scott then decides to crash a few police cars every couple of scenes as if to divert the viewer from his feelings of frustration. The bottom line: Pelham isn't all that "thrilling".

Travolta is O.K. but becomes annoying very quickly, saying "motherfucker" way too many times in an attempt to justify
his nastiness as the criminal. By contrast, Washington is calm and collective as the nice guy janitor; easily the film's most tense scene comes when his character confesses to his own failings on the microphone to Ryder -- his character is always likable and always watchable from thereon.

Scott isn't known for his subtlety, but apart from the flashy opening scene, Pelham feels exactly that (check out the final confrontation between the hero and villain -- never has a gun standoff felt so bland). Some people may like it; I expected more, though.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2010.