Unstoppable

Unstoppable doesn’t have memorable characters, it doesn’t have powerful performances, but it does have a rather interesting set-up and is, for the most part, a satisfactory popcorn experience.

The movie stars Denzel Washington as Frank Barnes, a railroad engineer in West Virginia on the verge of retirement and Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Will Colson, Barnes’s juiced-in greenhorn replacement. They have differences but come to respect each other. If that sounds boring and unimaginative, you’re right. But that’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is what’s happening over in Pennsylvania. There, an incompetent conductor (Ethan Suplee) has to leave a slow moving train to throw a switch on the track. While he’s away from the train cab, the throttle lever slips, and the train speeds off with nobody at the controls- — oops! We then watch as Suplee contacts yardmaster Hopper (Rosario Dawson) who tries to co-ordinate efforts to stop the train. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, the train is also full of toxic chemicals and is speeding towards Colson’s hometown.

The multiple points of view reminded me a little of the superior ‘Die Hard’ movies which also derived much of their suspense from sequences of complex logistics against impossible odds.

Of course everything that Hopper and her evil corporate overlord (Kevin Dunn) do to stop the train is a laughable failure. It’s a good thing our heroes happen to be in the neighborhood.

‘Unstoppable’ is a by-the-book, paint-by-numbers movie. It’s a formula, it’s manipulative, but it works. Denzel play’s a lower key version of his persona. Chris Pine plays off his considerable charisma and the other actors play their stock-characters effectively.

The film is unique and admirable in several ways. Its large rail yards are the real thing, no fake matte paintings. The chase scenes, featuring massive, speeding locomotives also appear to be done for real. The film features incredible stunt scenes and seemingly little CGI. Not only do the images appear authentic, but the actions do too. The actions of Hooper and co to stop the train are, of course, bad ones, but they seem more like choices made by desperate people in a tough jam then the ridiculous action movie fodder that we’re used to getting. Scott and his screenwriter Mark Bomback don’t cheat. They certainly milk the premise, but they don’t stretch logic, reason or the laws of physics.

Where the film starts to have trouble is towards the end where it becomes clear that Tony Scott is the films biggest enemy. His reliance on quick cuts, shaky cameras and fast zooms become a bit overwhelming towards the end of the film. I had a migraine by the end of the film. Even at the end, after all the action scenes had where over, the camera was still zooming around like a little kid on a sugar binge.

In spite of these problems, the film is an enjoyable diversion. You probably wont remember any of the characters or lines of dialogue. The film is about big trains going real fast. If you want to see an action movie this weekend and ‘Tron: Legacy’ doesn’t appeal to you, you’ll probably be all right with this.

Grade: C+

The American

The first image of Anton Corbijn’s new film “The American” is of a snow-covered cabin in Sweden. For the first 30 seconds or so there is no sound. None. No wind rustling through the trees. No chirping birds. Perfect solitude. Then, so quietly you’re not even sure you can hear it at first, there is a piano. Inside the cabin George Clooney is held up with his girlfriend. They are perfectly contented in their isolation, like Adam and Eve. Too bad for them that this is a thriller, and that soon comes to a violent end.

Clooney plays a man named Jack, or maybe it’s Edward, or maybe none of those things. Jack/Edward has an unusual job, he claims to be a photographer but in reality he builds custom weapons for assassins. After the nastiness in Sweden, he’s fed up, frightened and justifiably paranoid. But his handler convinces him into one last job. Jack/Edward gets the specifications for the rifle he is to build-a collapsible sniper rife with the machine gun’s firing speed.

He hides out in a small Italian town in the mountains of Abruzzo. There are wonderful scenes of Jack /Edward building the rifle. The components laid out in rows on the table of his dingy hotel room. He is good with machines but he is distracted. He spends his days talking with an old priest; he spends his nights with a prostitute named Clara (the absolutely gorgeous Violante Placido). Otherwise he sits and waits.

The film very much rests on Clooney’s performance. At this point in the year I would not be surprised if he were nominated for an Oscar. The director knows how good Clooney is and builds the film on his skill. A lesser actor might have required a script with more exposition, more action to keep us interested or more intrusive music to help us notice what we need to see. But luckily for this film, George Clooney has gotten very, very good at playing lonely, detached and mysterious. He plays his character as a nervous man constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. All the drama, and suspense in the film is in his face.

As an assassin film, it does owe a lot to the heavyweight champs of the genre. The entire set-up is reminiscent of a section from “The Day of The Jackal” where the assassin goes to see an old man about a custom rifle. Both films have explosive bullets and scenes were an assassin tests the weapon in a secluded field. The mood of the film, the Zen mindset of the protagonist and camera work owe a lot to Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samurai” which is an excellent film you should go rent right now.

There are better films of this type out there but not in theaters. But there aren’t better Clooney performances out there. Also don’t believe the ads; this is NOT an action film.

Grade: B