Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 24, 1995 TAG: 9511240084
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
While the film looks good most of the time and has some effective moments, that elusive screen "chemistry" is noticeably absent. Stars Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson work well enough together, but there's not much they - or anyone - could have done with this flawed story.
John (Snipes) and Charlie (Harrelson) are foster brothers who have grown up to become New York City transit cops. Their main work involves acting as decoys for subway muggers, but they also fill in as guards on the Money Train, a subway car that transports cash. It's managed by Patterson (Robert Blake), an obnoxious bully.
When Grace Santiago (Jennifer Lopez) transfers into their department, an immediate rivalry pops up between Charlie and John for her attention. Further complicating the situation (and padding the thin script), an insane thief is burning transit system workers, and Charlie owes a gangster $15,000 from a poker game.
From that shapeless premise, Charlie concocts a scheme to knock over the Money Train. Potential viewers may be wondering how they're supposed to react when one of the supposed good guys is trying to rob a public utility, and that is a problem.
Charlie's such a thick-headed, irresponsible and unsympathetic character that it's impossible to care what happens to him. That's another problem for any popular entertainment, and there are more.
The film's pace stutters, varying between quickly paced fight/chase scenes and slow, talky emotional scenes. The two overlap in one bizarre moment when John and Grace lace up their boxing gloves, go into the ring and duke it out while they discuss their triangular relationship with Charlie.
The big finish is similarly conflicted. The script by Doug Richardson and David Loughery struggles mightily to turn Patterson into the bad guy, but he's not the one who's hijacked the train. Director Joel Ruben, who was overpraised for his pedestrian "Sleeping with the Enemy," does little to enhance his reputation here. The story simply doesn't work, and the climactic train wreck is a hollow finish.
For all the hype and advertising that's preceded it, this "Money Train" never gets out of the station.
Money Train *
A Columbia Pictures release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Valley View 6. 103 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, sexual content.
by CNB