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Monday, November 15, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Unstoppable
Train-ing Day. May
Day!
Denzel Washington as Frank Barnes in "Unstoppable", directed by Tony Scott.
Fox
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Monday,
November 15, 2010
It is well-known that Tony Scott's filmmaking style is as subtle as a
sledgehammer, and his latest film, "Unstoppable", doesn't deviate. Based
on true events surrounding a runaway train in Pennsylvania that included
incredible stupidity and gross negligence by train company AVWR's personnel, Mr.
Scott employs his most frequent collaborator Denzel Washington as a 28-year AVWR
motorman, and Chris Pine as a hotheaded rookie conductor on his first
assignment.
The southbound cherry red locomotive 777 (yes, jackpot!) roars and thunders
through Pennsylvania, and Mr. Scott's film tries to approximate the speed, power
and relentlessness of what one character calls "a missile as big as the Chrysler
Building". The director succeeds somewhat, save for some identical,
repetitive shots of train 1206, in which the two lead actors ride.
This muscular enterprise is just right for Mr. Scott, the testosterone and
adrenaline flowing as much from his childlike joy of constructing this
predictable film as from the events themselves. "Unstoppable" however,
isn't right for the audience. You feel unmoved and distant from the
proceedings. There's nothing suspenseful or nerve-jangling about
"Unstoppable". There's little to invest in except the film's resolution,
which will obviously betray its title. Mr. Scott could have done well to
let the film speak more loudly for itself without pile-driving its loud, phallic
primary character down our collective throat. The speeding bullet train
needed little visceral or kinetic affectations from the director, but then
again, Mr. Scott cannot help himself, and why should he?
The only participants staying relatively calm given the hysteria and
consternation are Mr. Washington, who plays Frank Barnes, and Mr. Pine as Will
Colson. Both act as if they are in a real-life story and not an action
movie where actors make exaggerated movements or mean faces to get their point
across. There's a credible unease and an authentic working brotherhood
between Barnes and Colson. Their shared camaraderie shrewdly distances us
from the urgency of what occurs around them, and they possess a cool detachment
the actual duo may have had to prevent mass death.
Most enjoyable is the casual way Mr. Washington deflects or engages his
colleagues on the job. He's hardly always fire and brimstone, and in many
films, including some of his work with Mr. Scott, he genuflects with
deliberation, timing and an off-handedness that is priceless and amusing for
story's sake. He's still one of the very best and most professional actors
the world has. His partnership with Mr. Scott always works, even if the
films don't. "Crimson Tide" and "Déjà Vu" are
the best work they've done together.
"Unstoppable", written by Mark Bomback, shapes up as a "Training Day" without
the manual. For Mr. Scott the rules have long been tossed out of the
high-rise, shredded into a billion smithereens. When you see the first
shot of Mr. Pine in bed, you think Ethan Hawke waking up in Antoine Fuqua's 2001
film. When you see Mr. Washington in his glasses at a work table looking
up at Mr. Pine for the first time, you think of the introduction of Mr. Hawke
and Mr. Washington at the Quality Cafe, as the bespectacled latter is reading a
newspaper -- or trying to.
Audiences have seen "Unstoppable" before from Mr. Scott, and literally only 17
months ago with "The Taking Of Pelham 123", whose
original forerunner was supposedly based on true events. In that more
contained film, Mr. Washington played a New York City subway transit operator, a
former motorman who tries to talk John Travolta down from the loony ledge.
Both films are about trains that miss their station stops and keep on
a-rumbling, and there are scenes, shots and props (a huge, colorful electronic
map) present in both, as is the term "dead man's switch". (Mr. Scott's
lukewarm 2009 New York City film is more entertaining thanks to the exploits of
Mr. Travolta, such a wild, loose cannon as Ryder.)
In "Unstoppable" the back stories about the main characters' family lives allows
us to get a sense of Barnes and Colson beyond their working trade, however
peripheral and convenient they are for the overall narrative. Though these
relatively tranquil circumstances make for a brief and welcome respite, we
ultimately care little about the familial situations.
After all, there's a train to catch.
With: Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Corrigan, Jessy Schram,
Kevin Chapman, Elizabeth Mathis, Meagan Tandy, Dylan Bruce.
"Unstoppable" is rated PG-13 by the Motion
Picture Association Of America for sequences of action and peril, and some language.
The film's running time is one hour and 43 minutes.
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