The Taking of Pelham 123 Trailer
Watch this trailer by clicking the underlined “The Taking of Pelham 123 Trailer” link above. This movie is about a subway train taken hostage (by John Travolta) and the civil service worker (Denzel Washington) who tries to help.
It’s directed by the fabulous Tony Scott (Spy Game, Man on Fire, Deja Vu) whose developed a style almost immediately noticeable as his with his vibrant colors and jumpy edits (granted that may be due to the creative team working with him, but its followed Scott through a number of films).
It stars Denzel Washington, rapidly becoming the Dicaprio to Scott’s Scorcese to Scott’s brother Ridley’s Russell Crowe. This just in, Denzel hasn’t been in a really bad movie in a LONG time.
The script is from Brian Helgeland (adapting John Godey’s novel), screenwriter on L.A. Confidential and previous adapter of Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River and AJ Quinnell’s Man on Fire.
(sidenote: It’s a remake of a 1974 movie with Walter Matthau, as well.)
Most of this brings me to my next point….
It Sounds Like It Should Be Good
Right? And for most of the trailer it looks like it could be.
Until…
The following interchange is delivered, with straight faces. Keep in mind Denzel Washington is a fantastic actor totally capable of playing a scene for laughs. Neither actor plays this scene for laughs.
Denzel is speaking to presumably his wife in the film, and this is what they say:
Denzel: “They want me to take the money down to the tunnel” [presumably “they” means the kidnappers and the police]
Wife: “You do what you have to do but we need milk so on your way home get a gallon”
Denzel: “I can get a half a gallon, I’ll get a half a gallon”
His wife very seriously recoils from the phone, distraught.
SERIOUSLY?
Did no one think, hey, this makes us look like idiots incapable of recognizing a joke in our own script?
Brian Helgeland is not an idiot, he is familiar with the English language, and I can’t imagine this Oscar winning screenwriter intended that scene as a serious one. That’s of course assuming he really wrote it, which you can’t know for sure.
Point is, I can’t imagine anyone taking this movie seriously after viewing this trailer, which seems like a shame to me.
-Dan Benamor