Unstoppable (2010)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language
Score: 4 out of 5
Unstoppable, the final film that the late Tony Scott directed before his cancer diagnosis led him to take his own life, was a hell of a high note for him to go out on. It's a lean, mean action thriller that fuses a distinctly blue-collar setting and sensibilities with the kind of visual flair that's normally reserved for far more exotic settings and plots, all pulled together by a great cast and a straightforward plot told really well. Despite having been released only ten years ago, it's a film that feels like it came from another time -- specifically, the '90s, when these kinds of "star vehicle" movies powered by big names and bigger explosions were Hollywood's bread and butter, and when not every blockbuster was about saving the world. It has its faults, but it's still one of the best versions of that kind of movie that's out there, courtesy of a filmmaker who's only now getting his due as one of the greatest Hollywood action filmmakers of the last forty years. Even watching it a second time and knowing the plot turns in advance, it still had me on the edge of my seat.
The plot is simple: thanks to some rank incompetence by a pair of yard hostlers, there's now a runaway freight train rolling through the hills of Pennsylvania with a cargo that includes eight tanks of hazardous, explosive chemicals, heading straight towards a populated area where it will likely derail and explode at a dangerous bend, killing thousands. The only people who can stop it are the veteran railway engineer Frank Barnes and the rookie conductor Will Colson, who are driving a different freight train down that same railway. The two of them start the film with a profound dislike for one another; Will, a young man fresh out of training, thinks he knows everything and dismisses the advice he gets from Frank, who in turn resents Will for having gotten his job courtesy of his father pulling some strings in the union. Watching them together, I felt like I had wandered into any number of work sites in the country, where workers bonded and got into heated arguments in equal measure. (The fact that my dad, who drove a UPS truck for most of his life, loves this movie speaks to the accuracy of its depiction of a blue-collar, unionized workplace.) Denzel Washington and Chris Pine were both perfectly cast as, respectively, the grumpy old (or at least middle-aged) man and the young hotshot. Washington, unsurprisingly, lends plenty of gravitas to the part of Frank, making him more than believable as both a straight-talking family man and a guy who's been around the block a few times and knows the ins and outs of both his technical profession and the culture that surrounds it. Pine's Will, meanwhile, is supposed to come off as a douchebag, a cocky kid whose personal life is a mess and probably needed a guy like Frank to knock some sense into him, especially given the problems they face together on his first day on the job. Some of the elements of Will's backstory, particularly how the film handles his fraught relationship with his estranged wife Darcy, can come off as a bit questionable. While the film does make an admirable effort to show that Will has grown as a person by the end, finding out the circumstances of their relationship sapped a lot of my sympathy for him, and while the film tried to earn it back, by the end he still only barely had my sympathy, and the ultimate resolution came across as far too neat for my liking. That said, Pine's performance elevated a character who I could have easily despised, selling him as a flawed man whose life was careening out of control but who wanted to get back on track.
The supporting cast is sprawling, but every one of them stood out. Rosario Dawson especially was the film's unsung hero as Connie, the yardmaster who could have easily been a generic voice on the radio but instead gets to serve as the protagonist of the parts not set on the train, growing increasingly exasperated with the train company's negligence that had caused this incident to spiral out of control. When I said that this film had a very blue-collar sensibility, I meant it in a very populist sense; this is a film all about celebrating working men and women, one in which trained professionals come together to save the day by doing their jobs while the corporate suits, while not actively malicious, serve as obstacles who wind up making the problem worse. The glamorization of rural Pennsylvania as a place of exciting action, the aesthetic of a truck ad brought to life on the big screen, is just the start; the attention to detail on how trains operate was up there with how The Martian treated space travel (Tony Scott and his brother Ridley must have traded lots of ideas during their careers), and its valorization of working people is such that I'm surprised that this film hasn't been screened at any Bernie Sanders fundraisers. That's not to say that all the working people in this film are heroes, of course. Ethan Suplee and T. J. Miller had small but very memorable roles as the hostlers whose bumbling was responsible for the train going out of their control in the first place, and who serve as comic relief from that point forward.
Finally, there's the reason you come to see a movie like this in the first place: runaway train action. And it's here where Tony Scott's direction really shines. I've often heard Scott described as a prototype for Michael Bay in how he brought MTV-era music video sensibilities into the world of cinema, with one critical difference: while Bay, even at his best, can often get lost in a world of style over substance, Scott knew how to keep that style coherent and flowing at all times. He crafted a true sense of momentum behind the train, inexorably chugging as it did closer and closer to populated areas. Not only was the film always moving, it felt like it was moving in one specific direction, as befitting its subject; there was palpable tension as the train approached the bend that would mark its doom, ratcheting up with every mile. The stunt work as Frank and Will sought to stop or slow down the speeding train was impeccable too, as were the special effects, done with a mix of real trains, practical effects, and damn good CGI. If you want action that isn't sci-fi or fantasy and is grounded in reality but is still spectacular to watch, this is one for the books.
The plot is simple: thanks to some rank incompetence by a pair of yard hostlers, there's now a runaway freight train rolling through the hills of Pennsylvania with a cargo that includes eight tanks of hazardous, explosive chemicals, heading straight towards a populated area where it will likely derail and explode at a dangerous bend, killing thousands. The only people who can stop it are the veteran railway engineer Frank Barnes and the rookie conductor Will Colson, who are driving a different freight train down that same railway. The two of them start the film with a profound dislike for one another; Will, a young man fresh out of training, thinks he knows everything and dismisses the advice he gets from Frank, who in turn resents Will for having gotten his job courtesy of his father pulling some strings in the union. Watching them together, I felt like I had wandered into any number of work sites in the country, where workers bonded and got into heated arguments in equal measure. (The fact that my dad, who drove a UPS truck for most of his life, loves this movie speaks to the accuracy of its depiction of a blue-collar, unionized workplace.) Denzel Washington and Chris Pine were both perfectly cast as, respectively, the grumpy old (or at least middle-aged) man and the young hotshot. Washington, unsurprisingly, lends plenty of gravitas to the part of Frank, making him more than believable as both a straight-talking family man and a guy who's been around the block a few times and knows the ins and outs of both his technical profession and the culture that surrounds it. Pine's Will, meanwhile, is supposed to come off as a douchebag, a cocky kid whose personal life is a mess and probably needed a guy like Frank to knock some sense into him, especially given the problems they face together on his first day on the job. Some of the elements of Will's backstory, particularly how the film handles his fraught relationship with his estranged wife Darcy, can come off as a bit questionable. While the film does make an admirable effort to show that Will has grown as a person by the end, finding out the circumstances of their relationship sapped a lot of my sympathy for him, and while the film tried to earn it back, by the end he still only barely had my sympathy, and the ultimate resolution came across as far too neat for my liking. That said, Pine's performance elevated a character who I could have easily despised, selling him as a flawed man whose life was careening out of control but who wanted to get back on track.
The supporting cast is sprawling, but every one of them stood out. Rosario Dawson especially was the film's unsung hero as Connie, the yardmaster who could have easily been a generic voice on the radio but instead gets to serve as the protagonist of the parts not set on the train, growing increasingly exasperated with the train company's negligence that had caused this incident to spiral out of control. When I said that this film had a very blue-collar sensibility, I meant it in a very populist sense; this is a film all about celebrating working men and women, one in which trained professionals come together to save the day by doing their jobs while the corporate suits, while not actively malicious, serve as obstacles who wind up making the problem worse. The glamorization of rural Pennsylvania as a place of exciting action, the aesthetic of a truck ad brought to life on the big screen, is just the start; the attention to detail on how trains operate was up there with how The Martian treated space travel (Tony Scott and his brother Ridley must have traded lots of ideas during their careers), and its valorization of working people is such that I'm surprised that this film hasn't been screened at any Bernie Sanders fundraisers. That's not to say that all the working people in this film are heroes, of course. Ethan Suplee and T. J. Miller had small but very memorable roles as the hostlers whose bumbling was responsible for the train going out of their control in the first place, and who serve as comic relief from that point forward.
Finally, there's the reason you come to see a movie like this in the first place: runaway train action. And it's here where Tony Scott's direction really shines. I've often heard Scott described as a prototype for Michael Bay in how he brought MTV-era music video sensibilities into the world of cinema, with one critical difference: while Bay, even at his best, can often get lost in a world of style over substance, Scott knew how to keep that style coherent and flowing at all times. He crafted a true sense of momentum behind the train, inexorably chugging as it did closer and closer to populated areas. Not only was the film always moving, it felt like it was moving in one specific direction, as befitting its subject; there was palpable tension as the train approached the bend that would mark its doom, ratcheting up with every mile. The stunt work as Frank and Will sought to stop or slow down the speeding train was impeccable too, as were the special effects, done with a mix of real trains, practical effects, and damn good CGI. If you want action that isn't sci-fi or fantasy and is grounded in reality but is still spectacular to watch, this is one for the books.
The Bottom Line
Unstoppable is a great swan song for a great director that remains eminently rewatchable, thanks to its solid performances, its populist flair, and its stupendous action. It's one that really does deserve a bit more recognition.
No comments:
Post a Comment