Cool News
Capone likes THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 as long as it stays underground...literally!!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
The not-so-big secret about the 1974 version of THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (which was the actual title) was that the heist itself was just an excuse to get to know some really interesting and very human characters on both sides of the crime equation. Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw would have been nearly as interesting playing two people checking out library books as they were as a transit cop and subway hostage taker, respectively. Watching that film today, the stakes seem ludicrously low and New York is a very different place.
The 2009 edition of PELHAM 1 2 3 is a beast of a different nature, but director Tony Scott is wise enough to at least leave the fundamentals the same as he navigates Brian Helgeland's far more dense screenplay. The focus is still on characters, even if the characters aren't nearly as compelling as they were 35 years ago. Much has been updated to this story of group of angry New Yorkers who hijack a subway car filled with passengers and demand a massive sum of money in one hour before they start killing hostages, and for the most part I didn't mind the changes. The head of the criminals, Ryder (played by John Travolta), has motivations behind his actions that seem solid. The film also acknowledges the role that modern telecommunications would play in such an incident--yes, in some cities, you can get a wireless signal in the subway. Above ground is an entirely different story...
Director Scott's frequent collaborator Denzel Washington is the best thing in the film as Walter Garber, which is good since he pulls us through his journey as the seemingly hapless dispatcher who becomes Ryder's main point of contact. Washington is playing older and a bit more skittish than he usually does, and it suits the character beautifully as a man whose recent history in the New York Transit Authority is under major scrutiny. As much as his superiors would love to pull him off the line with this dangerous criminal, Ryder senses a kindred spirit he can manipulate when he needs to. Also on hand in the film is John Turturro as a hostage negotiator who is feeding Walter lines to tell Ryder and prepping him for each new encounter. Turturro and Washington, two veterans who came up in the Spike Lee School of Filmmaking, have a great chemistry and their conversations are the highlights of the film. James Gandolfini plays New York's mayor, who is ridiculously hands-on in this case. And of course we have Luis Guzman as a disgruntled subway engineer who assists Ryder in his evil ways. You can never have too much Guzman in a movie, period.
You may think at this point that I'm ready to hand over my whole-hearted recommendation to THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3, but not so fast. There's one problem, and it's a doozy: John Travolta is ridiculous in this movie. I don't just mean a little nutzo or eccentric; he's genuinely awful in this role. I'm not sure which is more distracting, his bloated face, his pencil-thin facial hair, the way his voice goes into an upper register whenever he get mad and yells things like "Motherfucker!" You will more than likely laugh all the way through this movie thanks to Travolta's soul-crushing work. He did the same thing in the Thomas Jane PUNISHER movie, and I hope once and for all no one ever hires him to play an over-the-top villain again. He's so unbelievably unconvincing it boggles the mind. And he goes a long way toward killing any enthusiasm I had for this movie.
For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, the film becomes less interesting when the action moves aboveground. I guess the novelty of having all of the action set either on a lone railcar or an otherwise unexciting dispatch headquarters was kind of interesting, but once the chase sees daylight, I got bored. Still, Washington does a workman's job to keep certain aspects of this film very interesting. I contend that the actor does some of his best and most intense work with Scott behind the camera, with films like CRIMSON TIDE, MAN ON FIRE, and DEJA VU. In the character of Walter, Washington braids bits of confidence, frailty, fear and desperation. In lesser hands, these subtleties would have been lost. But Washington knows how to weave these various traits in and out of each other, creating a three-dimensional character amid a sea of lesser-developed ones. With the exception of one great performance, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 is decidedly average. I don't really remember a moment where I felt Walter's life was in danger, nor did I really care about the fate of Ryder or the passengers. The thriller aspects to the film are flatlined, and the chase aspects are standard-issue stuff. There's better out there, folks. Try something a little more adventurous and original on for size.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
-
+ Expand All
-
I enjoyed the film as safe, solid summer entertainment. But you're right Capone--Travolta was terrible. He's basically just playing his "having too much fun" bad guy that he played in Broken Arrow and parts of Face/Off...but the shtick is tired and really uncalled for here, in a film that should have had a gritty, angry villian.
Surprised no one has mentioned the moment when an angry, frustrated Travolta actually yells--unironically--"Lick my bunghole!!"
By the way, upon coming home I found "Hairspray" was on Cinemax. Travolta needs to stick to comedy. -
That one still makes me laugh. In a good way.
-
They'll probably be remaking that soon.
-
Film's producers say "It will be a reboot much in same vein as Star Trek and Batman Begins." They added "Audiences' loved Travolta's 'ain't it cool' line so we're gonna show them where that came from." Potential director Michael Bay says "It will be awesome". Potential star Christian Bale says "It will be done professionally!"
-
Download the best film podcast around
joblessfilmreviews.podomatic.com -
Let's just face facts. He's sucked in everything for the past 10 years (at least). His work always pulls you out of the movie. How he continues to get work is beyond me. Is anyone actually a John Travolta fan?
-
Seriously folks, a Pelham 123 remake? Thanks, but no thanks.
-
Lets REBOOT that badboy.
We can get Shitty Labeof to play Travola's big burly alien character... -
Jun 12, 2009 2:39:24 PM CDT
Speaking of AVATAR, is that trailer still on for Transformers?
by zillabeast
I may buy a ticket to Star Trek, and sneak into Transformers just to check it out. Then go watch Star Trek again.
-
I'm not going to stand by his work of recent, and I'm not going to say he was better in this than Denzel was... but I thought he did an excellent job in this movie. It is interesting though, it seems all the critics on Rotten Tomatoes have completely different feelings specifically for Travolta here - some definitely agree with Capone, some say he's the best thing about the movie. I'm not one of the laters, but I had no complaints about him at all. Outside of finding out more about his characters background near the end of the film, everything else about him was believable to me, and I happened to like his "motherfucker" drops quite a bit.
-
Are you kidding me? He was every bit as bad here as he is (for some reason) anytime he plays a bad guy. He overacted in Broken Arrow, he overacted in The Punisher, he did some overacting in parts of Face/Off... You always know he's in overacting mode when his head moves around like a bobble head and he says "cool" things like "my man" and "ain't it cool?" He really sucked in this movie. I realize you are a fan, but are you really so biased as to not notice that he chewed throught he scenery like a fucking T-Rex here?
-
First and foremost, I hope you don't mean "fan" of John Travolta like I support all his work like Wild Hogs and any of the other shit he's been in over the past how many years. Face/Off is the last film I recall him playing a role like this in - and from what I can recall it was Nicolas Cage who stole that movie (hense my screen name Castor here). I forgot he was in the Punisher, but I really don't recall much from that movie to begin with so I'll probably agree with you that he likely sucked there too. I might like his bad guy image, even if he has ticks people might find annoying. But as I said, I'm not the only the person to say I liked his work here...
"Travolta and Washington are dynamite in roles that could have slid by as stereotypes." Peter Travers
"Travolta clearly relishes the chance to play a really bad guy, and almost makes us forget Shaw's perfectly conceived character."
Peter Howell
I'd post more, but whatever, go to Rotten Tomatoes if you don't believe me. It's just an opinion man. -
I normally agree with him, but giving this film an 88 is like putting a silk hat on a pig (to quote GoodFellas). That's almost as nonsensical as Ebert giving The Knowing a 100. And Travolta was far from the worst thing about this film. The worst thing was Scott's direction, which distracted from the film's storyline. Does every shot of two men talking really have to be filmed by a circling camera? And that sped-up train effect got so old... Ugh.
-
I would never ever fuckin ever cast that guy. How the fuck Tarantino got anything out of him remains a mystery, but those days are clearly long gone. Oh well, we'll always have Grease. The night this film opens, I'll be home watching the original.
-
I was kinda excited to see it but now that I think about it I don't think this movie "needs" to be seen in a theater. I can wait.
-
There's maybe a handful of films I'm even remotely looking forward to, and we've most likely already gotten this year's best movie (Up). 2009 seems very, very disappointing in the movie department.
Maybe next year won't suck. -
i like when he's shooting off the legs of those cows or whatever the hell they were. he whips his gun around for a couple of behind the back shots - and can barely do it, because of his ridiculous costume. jesus. travolta, in his awfulness, can be strangely fascinating.
-
Coney Island 6 train.
-
1. Battlefield Earth.2. Catwoman.3. Batman & Robin.
-
What this film smells like
-
I'd like to see if I can get there.
-
Which guys does Travolta make out with in this one?
-
"yes, in some cities, you can get a wireless signal in the subway"Then they should have set this film in Seoul, because you sure as hell can't do that on a 6 train.
-
reboot! ftlulz.
-
but then you went off on Travolta who I actually thought was really good in the role. I actually thought it went to hell when they went above ground too. It was like a little warning signal went off in my head when Denzel got away from them. The minute they said forget it we don't have time [to go after him] I was thinking 'uh oh'. But I had no problem with Travolta. And I'll put it out there that those high pitched "motherfuckers" clued you into the fact that he wasn't just some hood. The only people who pronounce all the letters in "motherfucker" are educated white people. It never sounds natural when they say it. Otherwise I don't see a problem with Travolta's acting. The ending didn't make sense to me. But I didn't see the original so I don't know if it's the same. I intend to soon enough. But the whole idea of criminals having money in accounts that they're going to get to later never makes sense to me. I mean wouldn't an account of any kind with your name on it be watched by the law after you just hijacked a subway?
Anyway, you wanna talk never enough Guzman? There wasn't nearly enough Rispoli. Never is. I love that guy. -
even hated him in Pulp Fiction
-
Yeah, I'd agree with about everything you said there. The whole stock market thing was just awkward, not because it was a bad idea (in all reality, it makes sense) - but if you were going to do something like that, you wouldn't start feeding out stories about you that'd give away your identity. Anyways, I didn't feel it went to hell when they got above ground - I just started getting bored by that point. All in all, just another one to add to proof the Tony Scott/Denzel Washington pairing always deliver - even if this is down around the Deja Vu caliber if only a little better.
-
The reviews are becoming more and more like out of touch Roger and Ebert. John is a good villain. Act your age and stop writing reviews like it's for NYT.
-
look at his use of color right here!
tjohhny travolat makes my bone buzz -
If it was a straight performance...the movie would have been completely forgettable. The script we're dealing with here aint genious. The over the top bad guy performance is what made it cool.
If anything fucked up the movie, it was the cheesy webcam chat between the teens. WTF?? -
Jun 13, 2009 12:18:15 PM CDT
Travolta was actually pretty good as the villian in Swordfish
by sulik2
Which is an under rated movie in itself.
-
He could be a decent actor if he would ever choose to do decent material. He's not a completely untalented hack, but he sure doesn't try too hard either. No matter how many fake neck tattoos you put on this guy (as in TOP123) he always looks and sounds like John Travolta. I haven't bought his as a non-Travolta character since "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" and that was back in 1852 or something.
-
I meant "I haven't bought HIM [emphasis added] as a non-Travolta character..."
-
Seriously. What are you talking about? I know people love their hyperbole and whatnot but whether you like him or not John Travolta has never been a bad actor or just decent. I'd really like to know what most people around here think "good" or "great" acting is. The point is you're supposed to believe someone in the role they're playing. I think most actors do that on a regular basis. If they do then they're a good actor, imo. If you're looking for intense emotional scenes and lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth, you can't have that in every movie. And imo it should happen rarely. I really just don't know what people are expecting.
-
All I know is that Jerry Stiller kicked ass in the original!!! Plus it had Paulie from the ROCKY movies as a bad guy.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 273 total posts 271 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 92 total posts 92 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 69 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 151 total posts 63 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 67 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 60 total posts 57 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 484 total posts 49 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 69 total posts 42 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 120 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 183 total posts 24 posts