Ryder and his team of miscreants are headed for a rendezvous at a train on the Lexington Avenue line, the Pelham 123 to be specific, filled with ordinary New Yorkers who have no idea they are on the way to subway hell.
Ryder's opposite number, looking as menacing as a grilled cheese sandwich, is soft and paunchy subway dispatcher Walter Garber, played by Washington as the kind of guy who wears a bib napkin while eating lunch at his desk.
This type of hesitant role is a change for Washington, but as an actor who drips charisma just sitting in a chair, he is well within his comfort zone.
While Garber is busy spilling coffee on himself, Ryder and his gang are commandeering that subway car and its 19 hostages and calling in their ransom demand: $10 million (up from the $1 million in the 1974 film) to be delivered within an hour, or else people are going to die.
It's pure happenstance that Garber gets the call, but Ryder, with that quirkiness common to movie psychopaths, takes a shine to the guy and refuses to share his deep thoughts like "we all owe God a death" with anyone else.
Ryder won't talk to ace NYPD hostage negotiator Vincent Camonetti (John Turturro); he'll barely talk to the mayor (an excellent James Gandolfini). It's Garber or nobody, and so the dance between unexpected antagonists begins.
The third star of "Pelham" is the venerable New York City subway system. Anchored by strong work by cinematographer Tobias Schliessler, the crew filmed on the subway for four weeks, the most extensive shoot there ever, and the result is formidably convincing.
It almost goes without saying that "Pelham" has its problems, including some clunky plot elements and a phenomenal amount of coincidence. But faced with these difficulties, the film does what a good hostage negotiator does: It distracts us from what's going wrong and pulls us into the story. Films that can do that are few and far between, and getting fewer, so when this one pulls into the station, feel free to get on board.
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kenneth.turan@latimes.com
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'The Taking of Pelham 123'
MPAA rating: R for violence and pervasive language
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Playing: In general release
