The Taking of Pelham 123

I saw the sneak preview of The Taking of Pelham 123 starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Director Tony Scott remade the original 1974 version of the film.

A group of thugs, led by Ryder (Travolta), overtake the Pelham subway train in New York City for a large ransom of $10 million. Walter Garber (Washington) happens to be the lucky MTA operator who receives Ryder's call demanding the money within one hour, or one person will be killed every minute thereafter.

Garber is being investigated by the city for taking a bribe from a train manufacturer and was recently demoted to an operator pending a trial. There is a lot of intense dialogue between Garber and Ryder as they try to work out a deal to save the lives of the innocent people on the train.

James Gandolfini plays the NYC mayor in a somewhat comedic role of an apathetic politician who isn't running for reelection, therefore doesn't put forward much effort for his metropolis. This, of course, changes after this event shakes the city.

Washington was pretty standard in this role. He always plays the same kind of character to me, except for in Training Day. Travolta was good as the former Wall Street guy gone bad, and he succeeded in giving me the creeps numerous times. Overall, I'd wait and rent this film when it's out on DVD.