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Denzel Washington’s chases a train the thriller Unstoppable opening on Friday, Nov. 12.

By Sandra Olmsted

In director Tony Scott’s latest film, Unstoppable, an unmanned train carrying several carloads of toxic materials races toward disaster at 70 miles per hour through the Pennsylvania countryside; however, Scott takes the race against death thriller to new heights by casting Denzel Washington in the lead role.

Although Chris Pine’s Will is the first character introduced to the audience, it is Washington who carries the film by giving the audience a character to care about as the train races toward disaster.

After Dewey (Ethan Suplee) and Gilleece (TJ Miller), two screwups who are short on common sense, let loose a train without anyone at the controls and with autocontrols set wrong, the train, known as The Beast, takes off on a high speed run, accelerating to 70 miles per hour.

Scott puts a few obstacles in the path of the train, including a trainload of gradeschoolers on a field trip and horses trapped in a trailer on the tracks; the editing by Robert Duffy and Chris Lebenzon of Ben Seresin’s cinematography creates additional excitement in these situations.  Meanwhile, veteran engineer Frank, played beautifully by Washington, and a newbie conductor Will (Chris Pine), fresh out of conductor training, head out on their first work day as a team.

Despite the underlying resentments between the old workers who are being forcibly retired and the young workers who are trying to make a career and a life for themselves, Frank and Will develop a working relationship and reveal details of their lives, which make them human and likable.  However, they don’t yet know that The Beast is racing towards them.  As Frank, Washington exudes a middle-class work ethic and wariness in tough economic times which make the emotions of his character real.

After Connie (Rosario Dawson), who is the railroad equivalent of an air traffic controller, clears the tracks and notifies her boss, she is virtually ignored, even when her boss’ attempts to stop the out-of-control train fail.  Meanwhile, Frank and Will are notified of the train speeding towards them and try to get to a siding and out of its way.

Next, Frank devises a plan to stop the train before it derails on an elevated, 15-mile-an-hour curve by an oil refinery in a major metropolitan area.  Will Frank’s plan work, and can the old train he’s driving come up with the speed and power needed to save the city from disaster?  Even Frank isn’t sure, and Will has even more doubts, but they decide to go for it despite the fact hat they will be risking their lives.

Realizing they may never see their loved ones again, Frank, a widower, calls his two college-age daughters to say he loves them, and Will calls his estranged wife, but since she hasn’t been taking his calls, he may only get to leave a message.

As a thriller, Unstoppable is a fun ride for the audience, but screenwriter Mark Bomback’s characters and the acting of the entire cast make it matter rather whether the train crashes and turn the film into a character-driven gem.  Granted, the plot evokes Speed and The Taking of Pelham 123, but it is also based on the true story of a runaway train in Toledo, Ohio in 2001.

Denzel Washington’s wonderful performance and ability to inspire a cast and create chemistry with his costars make the film so much more than just a thriller with some over-the-top plot turns and setups.  The fast-paced action scenes of trains, which are carefully shot and edited, will thrill train buffs.

Although, at this writing, the film’s running time is not available, Scott and Bomback attempt to make the running time match the storytime; therefore, the 100 minutes to the impending disaster in the film is a good estimate of the running time.  A Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation release, Unstoppable opens Nov. 12 and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language.

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