Money Train

Why everyone is so mad about this movie! It's not that bad! I'm sure, the actors and the director Joseph Ruben (He's one of my favorite ones) do a good job, especially Jennifer Lopez (She's so hot!). Well, of course that film had to borrow a lot from Andrei Konchalovsky's masterpiece Runaway Train, but anyway, that's a good action thriller.

Reading the reviews below this seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of film. Regardless of whether you 'get' the story and the rapport between Harrelson and Snipes, you can't overlook that this is a well made film.

I've only seen it twice, once when it first came out on video, and again in the past week. I didn't think it was that remarkable when it first came out, but when I watched it the second time around, I found it highly entertaining and well executed. Granted, it's not the best film ever but I don't think it's deserving of a lot of the bad reviews given here.

As a film it succeeds, and if you've never seen it before, it's worth checking out.

Money Train (1995)

** (out of 4)

Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson are foster brothers who also work as transit cops for NYC. Charlie (Harrelson) decides to rob the transit cash flow to get back at his chief (Robert Blake) sho obviously John (Snipes) must go along to protect him.

I still remember walking into MONEY TRAIN when it first opened. The entire theater had a buzz going because they were excited to see the WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP co-stars together again and this time in an action film. As the film started there were a few scattered laughs but by the halfway point people were starting to get restless and by the time the movie was over most people left disappointed.

I think it's pretty easy tos ee why WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP still packs a great punch today while MONEY TRAIN has pretty much been forgotten. It's certainly not far to ever compare movies so lets just take a look at MONEY TRAIN on its own. The film was meant to be an action buddy movie but sadly there aren't enough laughs for it to work as a comedy adn the action scenes are rather poorly directed.

The film really doesn't have too much going for it other than the performers who are all on board. Both Snipes and Harrelson are in fine form and once again they have a great chemistry. You can tell that they are working their behinds off in every scene but there's just nothing there for them to work with. Blake is great chewing up the scenes and Jennifer Lopez is nice eye candy but the four are pretty much left in a film without much of a screenplay.

The movie doesn't have much of a plot but it's still a pretty entertaining movie. Which features great performances from the cast. It's nice for a Saturday night at the movies.

3(***)out of 4(****)stars

I am not a huge fan of thrillers, but once in a while there are some that surprise me. I just prefer thrillers that aren't that violent or gory and I had low expectations for ''Money Train''. Thankfully, I was wrong. While the movie is far from a must-see, it was an ok and enjoyable time-passer.

The leads (played by Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes) are two foster brothers that work as transit cops. While Snipes' character has a good life, Harrelson's life is a mess. Then, as a sort of personal revenge, he decides to steal the money train (that carries the New York subway's workers' salaries). But when something goes wrong will his brother save him? See the film.

The bottom line is that the movie is fun. Along with the two leads also Jennifer Lopez (in one of her first movies and one of her best) and veteran Robert Blake (few years before he retired) give nice support. The actors' performances are ok and the story is not great, but decent.