The Taking of Pelham 123 2009: ...and typecasting and more typecasting!

2009
Runtime: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Tony Scott
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Starring: Denzel Washington & John Travolta
verwon Rating: 7.5

The basic story line of this movie is not new, a lunatic, Ryder, played by John Travolta hijacks a subway car and holds the passengers hostage, he ends up communicating with Walter Garber, played by Denzel Washington, who is under investigation for taking a bribe. It has all the typical aspects you expect from a movie of this type:

Ryder gets attached to Walter and doesn't want to talk to anyone else.

Ryder is a real bad-ass who kills a few random people.

There area few dramatic pauses, where they play the appropriate dramatic music to get your attention and make sure you don't miss what's going on.

Even though less than 30 seconds has passed since they showed you why a police car and motorcycles are speeding through the city, they make sure to label it with a green flag on-screen that says "Money Transfer," in case your memory doesn't last that long.

A man chases a car on foot.

Ryder decides that the only acceptable person to deliver the ransom is Walter Garber.

I don't even have to finish here, you can figure out the rest of the movie based on prior roles played by both John Travolta and Denzel Washington, who have let themselves become hopelessly typecast, so they NEVER branch out and play any other types of characters.

Is it worth a watch? Yes! Is it a great movie? NO! It's decent, but it's not great. There have been so many similar movies out that you can guess the ending and approximately 80% of the dialogue, so I gave it a rating of 7.5.

(Tip for writers and directors.....a new twist would be a GREAT IDEA!)

BEST MOVIE LINE:  Ryder: "He's got a sexy voice, though man, he'd be my bitch in prison."

IMPORTANT MOVIE LESSON:  'Wall Street guys take ass models to Aspen for weekends!'