The idea of an out of control unmanned train is really
cool. The filmmakers exploit all the
dangers very well like having a collision with another locomotive, high speed
turns that threaten to tip the cars over, an unstable bridge, our characters
moving from car to car while avoiding falling in between them and all that
kinda great shit. There’s also the
excellent addition of a panicked group of folks in a control room tearing their
hair out over how to switch tracks and other trains around to evade total
catastrophe.
All of that is wonderful but what makes this a top tier
picture are the characters and performances.
Eric Roberts is so good as a slimy motor mouth punk full of energy. He’s in prison for raping a fifteen year old
girl which adds a grotesque layer to his young-dumb-full-of-cum demeanor. And this character is essential because we
need a contrast to Manny’s wisdom as well as his cruelty.
Manny truly isn’t afraid of anything. He takes his three year solitary in stride,
confronts his assassin head on, breaks out of jail into snowy below freezing
conditions and doesn’t give up trying to solve his runaway train problem. And if you cross him or get on his bad side he’ll
cut you down to size both physically and verbally. We witness this abuse when Buck is unable to
climb to the lead engine which could potentially save their lives. Manny beats Buck within an inch of his life.
Voight is perfect in the role and gives one of the most
incredible badass performances of all time.
He’s confident, driven and always has a wild look in his eye. One of my favorite parts is when Manny
delivers a speech to Buck about how he shouldn’t be a petty criminal anymore
and get some shitty job and hang on to it like it’s the best thing in the
world. Voight’s passion in the scene
jumps right into your heart and you wouldn’t dream of being on that crazy train
with anyone else.
There’s one aspect of the film I don’t care for though and it’s how the warden is handled. He’s a terrible person who doesn’t seem to give a fuck about his prisoners. Hell, it’s implied that he even tries to murder them if he thinks they’re too much trouble. And the movie validates his behavior several times throughout. For example, he doesn’t want to let Manny out of solitary because he thinks he might escape again and then that’s exactly what happens. He thinks Manny is an animal who will hurt people and that ends up happening too. At one point he shoves the chief control room guy’s face in a toilet because that dude was curt to him for being preoccupied with finding ways to save people’s lives and dodge further destruction caused by the train. Of course the control room guy apologies and I think it’s meant to be sort of a comic relief moment. I wish they either hadn’t made the warden such a mean bastard or show that his brute tactics weren’t all that effective.
You could also argue that Rebecca de Mornay (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Risky Business)
being on board the train isn’t necessary. It’s true that if she were removed nothing
would really change. However, she’s
there to convey information to Manny and Buck (and the audience) and helps to
move the story forward. Including this
character actually comes off kinda lazy but the rest of the picture is so
strong it’s inconsequential.
This was originally written by Akira Kurosawa (yes, that Akira Kurosawa) who couldn’t get it
off the ground and eventually gave up. I
don’t know how much of the story remains from his version but that baseline
kernel plot is gold. And I’m sure I’m
not the only one that would’ve been interested to see Kurosawa’s take on the
material.
But I don’t want to shortchange what we have. This was directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy (Tango & Cash) and he did a fantastic
job. The plot moves well, the acting is
superb and all the gimmicks with the train are a lot of fun and keep you short
of breath.
I love this movie for not only taking us on an awesome
adventure but also for introducing and letting us spend time with enduring badass
characters. If you haven’t jumped on board
this mother then what are you waiting for?
No comments:
Post a Comment