The Taking of Pelham 123

A team of gunmen (led by a tattooed John Travolta) takes over a New York subway and holds the passengers for ransom, dealing by radio with a harried transit authority dispatcher (Denzel Washington). John Godey’s novel gets a post-9/11 update from writer Brian Helgeland that works pretty well, once you get over wondering how the bad guys got so many firearms onto a subway train. Tony Scott’s direction is typically fussy and mannered, but effectively suspenseful. The movie would probably have been even better if the two stars had switched roles: As always when he plays a villain, Travolta hams it up, chewing the scenery with comical relish, eager to remind us that it’s only Travolta play-acting and we shouldn’t hate him. Travolta’s probably the better actor, but Washington isn’t afraid to be disliked. J.L.

A team of gunmen (led by a tattooed John Travolta) takes over a New York subway and holds the passengers for ransom, dealing by radio with a harried transit authority dispatcher (Denzel Washington). John Godey’s novel gets a post-9/11 update from writer Brian Helgeland that works pretty well, once you get over wondering how the bad guys got so many firearms onto a subway train. Tony Scott’s direction is typically fussy and mannered, but effectively suspenseful. The movie would probably have been even better if the two stars had switched roles: As always when he plays a villain, Travolta hams it up, chewing the scenery with comical relish, eager to remind us that it’s only Travolta play-acting and we shouldn’t hate him. Travolta’s probably the better actor, but Washington isn’t afraid to be disliked.