This Tony Scott directed suspense film is a pleasingly direct and simple heist movie. Denzel Washington plays a subway dispatcher who has the misfortune to be at the mike when the train Pelham 123 is hijacked by an F-bomb-dropping “Ryder” (John Travolta). It is fun to see Washington in a relatively understated role, and he is pitch-perfect as usual. Cast against type for a refreshing change is John Turturro who plays a reasonable and intelligent hostage negotiator (as opposed to either a weakling or a villain, as he too often seems to be cast).
The plot is deceptively simple. Ryder leads a gang of armed thugs after a big hostage payoff. He has some real anger management issues, but it is Garber (Washington) who is at the heart of the movie. Ryder uses the threat of violence against hostages to get Garber to reveal personal secrets. The crisis is a crucible, ultimately, for Garber to resolve some of his personal demons.
There are a couple of misdirections of the audience’s expectations. Some of these serve to heighten tension: developments that will apparently aid the police are not exploited at all, contrary to our expectations. Others, however, are peculiarly left aside. Without giving away too much, a line of investigation into Ryder that runs throughout the movie ultimately pays off, but is ultimately ignored. This leaves the personal drama centered completely on Garber and loses an opportunity to make a more three-dimensional character out of Ryder. And, the heist story itself, relatively trim at 1:46, could have had a more intricate third act if the story of Ryder’s past and police action against him using what they learned had been thoroughly exploited.
These decisions were more puzzling than anything else, and the movie is still a solid and gripping suspense story with fine and convincing acting.