The Taking of Pelham 123 (Dir: Tony Scott)

Your ability to enjoy "Pelham," Tony Scott's slight but serviceable thriller remake, depends on how much you can stand John Travolta hamming it up as The Villain. He's bad. Real bad. You can tell by the fact that he has evil facial hair and has a tendency to switch from gleefully ironic line readings to uncontrolled rage at a moment's notice. When Travolta plays villains he always appears to be having a ton of fun. Usually more fun than the audience. His "Pelham" baddie is almost tolerable and falls on the Travolta villain spectrum between "Battlefield Earth"--awful--and "Face/Off"--actually menacing.

He shares screen time with Denzel Washington as a somewhat paunchy transit worker forced into a hostage situation he would rather avoid. There are some great scenes in the early going when we get to see Washington behind his desk directing the many trains of the New York City subway system through the use of a giant electronic display. At one point he is referred to as maestro and it's a pleasure to see someone doing a complicated, demanding job well as he directs the cars steadily on their way. These scenes are important to the film and endear you to a character that gets satisfyingly more complicated as the film wears on.

Washington soon finds himself trying to negotiate on behalf of Travolta's subway hostages. The scenes at the train station are tight, interesting, and offer compelling character moments while Travolta's subway menace moments are flabby and rote. We are seeing two different films and Washington's is substantially more interesting. When the two films merge, the film speeds on to a violent climax that will not surprise any seasoned moviegoer. Tony Scott's direction is frequently distracting as his use of freeze frame and slow motion do little to heighten tension. Washington is enough of a force to keep the movie interesting and he keeps it chugging along.