What starts as an ordinary day for Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) turns into a day he will never forget, and not just because his wife asks him to bring home a gallon of milk as he is about to board a helicopter and personally deliver a $10 million random to a team of ruthless criminals who have hijacked a subway train. Subway dispatcher Garber finds himself as an unlikely hostage negotiator, the only person the unhinged hijacker Ryder (an on form John Travolta) will communicate with. With an hour to get the ransom to Ryder, the pressure is on and a life at stake for every minute the money is late.
The production notes bill this The Taking of Pelham 123 as a ‘battle’ in which Garber must ‘outwit’ John Travolta’s unhinged Ryder, which implies an element of cunning and suspense. It’s not a battle so much as a lesson in hostage negotiation – anything resembling outwitting really only comes in the last ten minutes of the film. And there is a touch too much needless blood for the film to lift itself out of the contemporary idea of thriller/suspense equating with a high body count.
The thing with The Taking of Pelham 123, and this applies to all remakes, adaptations and the like, is that everyone is always going to compare it to its original counterpart, the 1974 cult film of the same name. From what I can gather, the original was (as they so often are) better. More suspense, more grit and generally speaking, more depth.
Unfortunately, depth isn’t something this remake has in spades. Even in teaspoons. The director, Tony Scott seems more concerned with the visual element, privileging at times nauseating and needless camera work (inexplicable rapid cuts and pans) over adding meat to the story’s bones. Snazzy techniques and a jarring soundtrack do not (necessarily) a fulfilling cinematic experience make.
In doing this, Scott leaves lot in the, albeit more than capable hands, of his leading men. And, thankfully, Travolta and Washington, with their supporting cast of James Gandolfini and John Turturro, are what save this otherwise flashy, somewhat shallow film from being one giant visual experiment. Travolta’s mercurial bad guy is just unpredictable enough to add a couple of surprise bodies to the count, and intriguing enough to make us want to look beyond the psychopathology and get to know his story. Washington is suitably reliable and comforting, and lends his sturdy credibility to the, forgive the sound bite, ordinary man who finds himself in an extraordinary situation.
In contemporizing the story, Tony Scott has turned to the stalwarts of post 9/11 New York City – terrorism, a police force with no trigger hesitation and saturated news coverage. In a nod to the technology age, there is an irritating laptop/blog/love story subplot that is supremely irritating and makes you want to scream. Just writing about it makes me want to scream. These elements of social commentary should theoretically add depth, but seem cursory and under-explored.
Overall, a competent performance from the cast and a few genuinely surprising and tense moments don’t make up for the overall predictability of the story and superficiality of its treatment. It’s an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours, but I wouldn’t be afraid to wait for DVD.
Director – Tony Scott
Cast – Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, John Turturro
Australian release date – 27th August, 2009
