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This week @ the movies: The Taking of Pelham 123

June 12, 2009 at 12:00 am by Joe Bardi

[Ed. note: Each week I'll be breaking down the big summer blockbuster movie releases. If you're curious about what's coming out in future weeks, be sure to check out the Summer Movie Preview. For more info on this week's releases, please check out my full length review of The Taking of Pelham 123 or visit our movie site for all things film-related.]

FRIDAY, JUNE 12TH
Box office gold: The Taking of Pelham 123
Worth seeing? Definitely. Pelham is a remake of a well-liked 1974 thriller about a band of criminals (led by Jaws’ Robert Shaw) who take a New York subway train hostage and negotiate with a transit worker played by Walter Mattheau. Denzel Washington steps in for Mattheau in the remake, while John Travolta takes over for Shaw and Tony Scott (Top Gun, Days of Thunder) takes on directing duties. And therein lies the rub. Denzel is good in anything, and Travolta really shines here (a first for the actor when he plays a villain), but Tony Scott’s “style” hampers the film. Still, you could do much worse at the multiplex right now. Bonus factoid: In the original, the criminals are all named after a color — a conceit later lifted by Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs.
Counter-programming: Instead of Pelham’s high-octane suspense, try a dose of fantasy in Imagine That. Eddie Murphy stars as a high-finance guy whose can’t figure out how to keep his career out of the shitter, but goes looking for the answers to his problems in an imaginary world created by his daughter. If Imagine That isn’t the opposite of a claustrophobic subway hostage movie, I don’t know what is. Also: The Tampa Theatre brings Valentino: The Last Emperor to town. The acclaimed documentary recounts the life of famed Italian fashion designer Rudolph Valentino.