Mind The Gaps

Action/Thriller. Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, James Gandolfini, Luis Guzman, Victor Gojcaj, John Benjamin Hickey.

Mind the gaps in the logic and plausibility of Tony Scott’s action-packed thriller, which plays out a deadly game of cat and mouse on the subway system beneath New York City.

Adapted here by scriptwriter Brian Helgeland from John Godey’s novel, The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 begins at a canter and barely pauses for breath between the slow-motion crashes and John Travolta’s voracious scenery chewing.

Director Scott (Days Of Thunder, Crimson Tide, Enemy Of The State) has forged a long and illustrious career out of male posturing and testosterone-fuelled mayhem.

The old dog is in no mood to learn new tricks for this remake of the 1974 thriller starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, falling back on the slam-bang, slow-motion set-pieces that have become his trademark.

If Harry Gregson-Williams’s robust orchestral score doesn’t keep the audience awake, a subterranean gun fight, runaway train and spectacular car crash at the film’s midway point certainly will, building to a showdown on Manhattan Bridge that is an anti-climax.

“You’re my goddamn hero!” proclaims one of the lead characters, giddy on the rapid-fire editing. He’s more easily pleased than us.

Scott opens the film in the busy transit control centre where veteran dispatcher Walter Garber (Washington) monitors the progress of trains with a steely eye.

A long, uneventful day turns into a nightmare when criminal mastermind Ryder (Travolta) and his associates Phil (Guzman) and Bashkim (Gojcaj) hold a carriage full of terrified commuters hostage on the subway system and demand a $10m ransom for their safe release.

The mayor (Gandolfini), his deputy (Hickey) and their advisers have just one hour to find the money. For every minute past the deadline, one of the passengers will die.

Walter reluctantly accepts the role of hostage negotiator, conversing with Ryder via the train's two-way radio system.

Over time, the two men strike up a peculiar friendship, while lead police investigator Camonetti (Turturro) tries to delay paying the ransom.

As zero hour approaches, Ryder prepares to make good on his threat and Garber shifts uncomfortably in the hot seat.

Scott’s testosterone-fuelled revamp lacks the tension of the 1974 film, keeping the two leads apart for more than an hour as Ryder and Walter spar verbally over the radio.

Washington essays yet another likeable working man, albeit one accused of taking bribes from a Japanese train manufacturer, keeping everything low-key.

His transformation into gun-toting action man strains credibility, not that the rest of Scott’s film has much to begin with.

Washington’s non-performance is in stark contrast to Travolta, overacting wildly as the ex-con with eye-catching facial fuzz, who takes a real shine to strait-laced Garber.

“He’s got a sexy voice. He’d be my bitch in prison!” giggles Ryder to one of his cohorts.

At least he’s enjoying himself.