Unstoppable

Tony Scott who directed high action films like The Taking of Pelham 123 and Enemy of the State worked with Mark Bomback who wrote Live Free or Die Hard and Race to Witch Mountain. They have created another rip snorting high octane thriller with an unstoppable train racing through the Pennsylvania countryside.

Will (Chris Pine) just finished his 4 month training and reports to the train yard to work under 28 year veteran train driver Frank (Denzel Washington). There is the usual animosity between the new younger workers who are replacing the older forced into retirement employees. Especially when they suspect that Will has family ties that may have landed him the job. Frank is hard on Will his conductor while on their first assignment and Will is determined to show his worth but doesn't appreciate the constant criticism. It doesn't help that he makes a mistake by adding 5 too many cars when they they were only supposed to get 20. Meanwhile in the train yard, two inept train employees Dewy (Ethan Suplee) and Gilleece (TJ Miller) bungle moving a ½ mile train loaded with toxic chemicals and it set it running down the tracks without a driver and the failsafe breaks not connected.

Train traffic manager Connie (Rosario Dawson) working on the inaccurate information supplied by dumb and dumber believes they had only made a mistake and it's salvageable. She sends the Dewy and Gilleece to catch up to the train to jump on and stop it. They don't know that lever set for idle has slipped and the train is quickly picking up speed. She calls train welder Ned (Lew Temple) to report on train who drives to where there train is supposed to be but they realize the train is actually far faster than they imagined.

Up to this point the movie meandered along getting into the day to day concerns and lives of blue collar workers and the fascinating world of trains. Connie aptly describes the runaway train as a loaded missile. There are expected dilemmas like a train full of school kids on a field trip and Frank and Will's train on the same tracks as the speeding locomotive. As usual the powers that be working in high rise offices and making decisions on golf courses are clueless to a solution that is not out of their preplanned emergency responses. For them this situation is based on the financial losses they can expect and what is more cost effective. They are not listening to Connie or Frank who have first hand information. The clock is ticking before the train hits the big urban center of Scranton where there is an elevated sharp turn that can not be negotiated at 80 mph. After the highly televised rescue attempts fail, Frank and Will realize they may have the only chance to stop the train.

The edge of the seat action will keep you riveted. The movie plays like a 70's drama with stock characters but they are in the hands of screen faves Denzel and Star Trek's Chris Pine. Scott and Bomback don't give you too much to nitpick about their film and there are just a few slow contemplative scenes where we get character fill. Most of the time you are riding with that train trying to figure out how in the world they are going to stop it before disaster strikes and you will cheer at the end of the ride.
(Review by reesa)