by Donald Lind

Created on: January 23, 2011

“Unstoppable” delivers the non-stop thrills”

Tony Scott and Denzel Washington are becoming quite the director-actor tandem, having teamed up for four films in this past decade and all of them being quite good.  Nothing too spectacular, but satisfying entertainment and efficient filmmaking is on display on their team-ups.  Their latest, “Unstoppable,” is just that, with the added bonus of some breathtaking, thrilling action for an hour-and-a-half.

Scott was made to direct a film like “Unstoppable.”  With an impressive resume of primarily action films, he is a go-to guy when cranking out some high octane action without having to worry about a whole lot of depth.  But as adept as Scott is at staging excellent pyrotechnics that are visually stimulating without any key shots missed by sloppy camera work, he is also adept at getting leading actors to engage the audience as they endure the physicality on screen.  In that case, Washington plays the everyman perfectly who can elicit empathy for a near hopeless disaster he hopes to divert.

Washington plays Frank Barnes, a veteran engineer for a Pennsylvania railroad.  While dealing with his two estranged daughters and his friends being forced into early retirement by corporate, it is his job to show rookie conductor Will Colon (Chris Pine, “Star Trek”) the ropes.  Will got his job through family connections, but isn’t enthusiastic about it; he has his own problems to deal with, namely a restraining order preventing him from seeing his wife and son.  Naturally, the two butt heads during their shift.

They have other problems to worry about however.  Due to a mishap involving another engineer (Ethan Suplee), a gigantic freight train stretching a half-mile long, has suddenly powered its way onto open track, unmanned.  It is gaining in speed, and the brakes are off.  As train dispatcher Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) watches in increasing anxiety, things get worse as the train is revealed to be carrying tanks full of highly toxic, explosive chemicals.  Soon, it’s barreling down through more and more highly populated areas, with a point in city holding a curve that the train will not manage to hit without derailing.  Realizing their families are in danger, Frank and Will gun their own train in reverse, hoping to catch up to the beast and help slow it down.

Parts of the story, by writer Mark Bomback,

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