MONEY TRAIN
A film review by Peter Wels
Copyright 1995 Peter Wels
Starring Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson Directed by Joseph Ruben Rating: MA Score: * (out of ****)
Cashing in on the success of WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP and the failure of most of their solo vehicles (including THE COWBOY WAY and DROP ZONE), Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson have reteamed, hoping that they can strike up the same success. Sadly, if this dismal, cliche ridden and mind-numbingly boring action pic is anything to go by, they haven't got a chance in hell of even coming close.
This time out, the duo play foster brothers who are transit cops. Following several run-ins with their tyrannical boss (Robert Blake), who is obsessed with the "Money Train"--a train which carries all the subway's takings--and will let nothing stop it (now *there's* an original plot device), Harrelson's character decides to try and take off with the cash.
Along the way, both of them fall in love with the same woman--another transit cop who also hates her boss. This leads to the typical sibling rivalry crap that you usually find in a film of this standard ('you were always the better brother' etc. etc. etc.), and doesn't help to add anything to the film.
Given a better script, better performers in supporting roles and a shorter running time (the film almost went for two hours--or did it just feel like it?), this film might (and I mean *might*) have turned out okay, but as it is, it is stocked with the worst action film cliches, whose only purpose appears to be to pad the film out to its painfully long running time.
Robert Blake, who plays the evil boss, has got to be the most pathetic bad guy in film history! He sounds like Wayne Newton, and appears to think the best way to appear evil is to have your eyes bulging as though they are about to burst out of their sockets!
But this is only one of MONEY TRAIN's problems. If you look at the script as if it was an action film, it lacks originality and suspense. But if you try to look at it as if it were a heist film, it is even worse. The final robbery sequence is almost trivialised and the characters definitely ain't Butch and Sundance.
The film isn't all bad though. Snipes and Harrelson, when they aren't using the dumb cliches that the script gives them, make an agreeable duo, and some of the stunt-work is indeed excellent. But good stunt-work cannot save a bottom-of-the-barrel action movie.
If you're a really undemanding action freak, there's a chance you'll like this. But if you're looking for something original, or suspenseful, try somewhere else--I doubt you'll find it here.
-- For info, comments and feedback, contact me via email at peter_wels@gabriel.macmedia.com.au.
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