The Taking of Pelham One Two Three: Joseph Sargent

The true inspired genius behind Joseph Sargent's The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is that it is just as much about the city of New York as it is about the central heist. The story reads like an average hold-up: a group of four disguised gunman commandeer a New York subway car and demand one million dollars in cash in one hour. Every minute after that hour, they will kill one passenger. But forget about the heist. The city and its people are the true stars. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three exists in the same New York as Martin Scorsese's early work: a rough, tough town that is overworked, fatigued, cranky, and crime-ridden. The subway hostages scream and yell in different languages, black cops sarcastically joke that in the subway tunnels nobody can see them, all of the subway workers and officers are overweight and balding, and even at high noon it looks and feels dreary, bleak, and grey. The process of watching the authorities collect and transport the money to the subway car is fascinating and troubling, as I'm almost positive that it happens in real time, give or take a minute or two. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is the kind of movie that I love: a product of its environment and time period. This film is a time capsule to the chaotic 70s when New York was a battlefield and the subways were the trenches.

8/10