Tuesday, June 23, 2009

THE TAKING THE PELHAM 123




Crime thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Denzel Washington: MTA New York Transit subway dispatcher Walter Garber
John Travolta: Ryder, the leader of the gang
John Turturro: NYPD Lt. Camonetti
Luis Guzman: subway motorman Phil Ramos
James Gandolfini: mayor of New York

REVIEW
At the risk of giving away the plot let me just say this is a exciting crime thriller with great acting, superb camerawork and crisp editing to keep things moving along. And that they do, with gusto. Along the way, the tension mounts and the outcome is never a sure thing. Riveting stuff.

CLASSIFICATION
for violence and pervasive language. They got that right: seemingly bad guys must have a potty mouth with every third utterance being the f-word.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
1. There is no Line 6 Southbound train that leaves the Pelham Bay station at 1:23 PM; the closest would be the weekday departure at 1:24. But then the movie title wouldn’t have the same ring to it would it?
2. The time of the video of the subway car viewed from the front is 2:03 whereas from the rear it is 18:02.
3. The line symbol of the 6 train is a white six on a green background not a red 6 on a red background.
4. While talking to one of the passengers, Ryder’s watch is clearly visible and the time changes from 20 after the hour to 10 minutes to the hour.
5. The flight on Icelandair from JFK to Reykjavik takes 5 hours and 35 minutes, not 6 hours.

P.S.
In a bold and visionary move the New York Central Railroad spent an enormous sum to build the Grand Central Terminal and tracks below street grade. When the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was constructed some 20 years later it was directly over the northerly tracks and so a private railway siding was built beneath the hotel. Guests with private rail cars could then have them routed directly to the hotel platform instead of to Pennsylvania Station or Grand Central Station (as it is more commonly referred to). From there they could take a special elevator directly to their suites or to the lobby. President Franklin D Roosevelt among other notables frequently made use of this facility.

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