The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Conversations like this kept Ryder’s actions unpredictable. When hostage negotiator John Camanetti (John Turturro) arrives to defuse the situation, he seems to make things worse. We’ve all seen this movie before where the bad guy seems willing to latch on to someone they twist up in their craziness and no one else is afforded entrance. Camanetti is relegated to coaching Walter through his new relationship with the bad guy.

The large ransom demanded by Ryder, can only be delivered by the Mayor of New York (James Gandolfini). The number is so large that at one point Walter asks, “Is this about the money?” Ryder says, is there anything else? Gandolfini is a Mayor Bloomberg type who rides the subways with the ordinary folk and makes Rudy Giuliani jokes.

When given an opportunity to become the hero and gain redemption for his past sins, Walter agrees to deliver the ransom to Ryder in the dark and dirty tunnels of NYC alone with no police.

Several times in the film plans, ideas and scenes were introduced then dropped and never heard from again.

Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy this film. If you’re John Travolta and Denzel Washington fans, check it out, however, if you’re looking for a great story, you may want to wait on this one, it will not satisfy you at all.