The Taking of Pelham 123
Based on a book (which I haven’t read), The Taking of Pelham 123 tells the story of a subway car and its passengers taken hostage. Walter Garber is the dispatcher who becomes entwined in the negotiations, not knowing how this situation will affect his life and career. The hijacker, calling himself Ryder, threatens to kill passengers one by one if his demands of $10 million are not met within the hour. When the authorities start getting involved, things go wrong, and the first person on Pelham 123 is executed without hesitance. Since Ryder will only talk to Garber, the dispatcher is forced to sit out the ordeal, trying to bring the nightmare to a peaceful close.
Denzel Washington does an excellent job of portraying the dispatcher. The character is believable and my sympathy for him started early. But much more striking was John Travolta‘s performance as Ryder. He created a cold, ruthless, decisive, and methodical criminal mind that strangely reminds me of his role in Swordfish. I don’t imagine there being many criminals like this in reality (or any at all), but it worked for this movie. And as in Swordfish, there was a slight twist to the story, but this time it was quite predictable. But that didn’t detract from a good action thriller with some clever turns that I’d recommend to most people.
