The positive review: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

After our 500-word opus, we had to cut down the following week ... to 250 words. (Gulp.) Surprisingly, the "short-writing exercise" has become easier with time, but this review, and the negative one above, were a pain.

Crime, grime, hating your neighbor and your mayor … ah, New York City in the 1970s. Joseph Sargent’s gritty subway hijack thriller, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, vibrantly captures the essence of our city during that not-so-fair time.

Walter Matthau brings a thick Bronx accent, some period nightmares (plaid shirts and yellow ties??), and the right touch of gruffness to Detective Zachary Garber of the Transit Police. Garber’s in a battle of wits and timing with four hijackers led by silky-voiced, creepily charismatic Robert Shaw. David Shire’s still-pulsating score heightens tension as Garber must get a ransom to the criminals in one hour or their hostages - a car full of people resembling John Rocker’s 7-train nightmare - will be shot.

Despite its dated look, Pelham provides a jolt some 30 years later. The names of the hijackers? Quentin Tarantino paid homage to Shaw and his crew in 1992's Reservoir Dogs. For New Yorkers, watching Pelham is like having a map of Lower Manhattan animated on the screen, from the assorted stops on the 6 train to the frantic drive from Downtown that passes Bowery and Astor Place. (Most of the subway scenes were shot in a decommissioned station in Brooklyn, however.) The final scene makes its point with a word and a look, a subtle way to earn an audience’s whooping and cheering.

Denzel Washington recently announced plans to remake Pelham. Here’s hoping Denzel brings some of Matthau’s chutzpah to Garber … and a better wardrobe.