मनी ट्रेन

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.

Action is an interesting film genre. You go in expecting little and are pleasantly surprised if you get more. Films like Face/Off, Die Hard, Speed, Under Siege, while formulaic, were all able to offer the viewer more than they expected going in and so have become beloved classics of the genre. The Money Train tries to be more than a lot of the action films that came out and simply disappeared in the early 90s, but falls a little short. While the film certainly isn't bad, it isn't considered a classic of the genre, and, while not a financial failure, relatively few people saw it and even fewer remember it.

The film reunites the stars of White Men Can't Jump, Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as a pair of law enforcement officers John (Snipes) and Charlie (Harrelson) who basically decide to steal from their boss (Robert Blake) who is a real piece of work. John has a hot girlfriend Grace (a pre Selena Jennifer Lopez) and Charlie has a gambling problem. Sound familiar? There are some funny moments and the dramatic scenes between Snipes and Harrelson are excellent. But aside from these, there really aren't any memorable moments. While the pairing of Snipes and Harrelson isn't tired, it doesn't have the same impact it had on their previous outing. Blake is menacing and odious but his character is not a believable or effective villain. Chris Cooper, who has a smaller role in this as Torch, would have been a better antagonist.

Money Train is OK and a reasonably entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, but it is also a missed opportunity. Snipes, Lopez, Harrelson and Blake try hard, but the finished product is less than the sum of its parts, and that's possibly the most frustrating thing of all.

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.

Don't think, just watch. Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes once again are, after 'White Men Can't Jump', a pretty funny team. Don't care for the plot, just see these two actors having a lot of fun with their characters and the situations they find themselves in.

Here they play two brothers, sort of. They are both cops, operating in and around a metro station. A criminal nick-named Torch (Chris Cooper), you can imagine what his crime is, is the villain they are trying to catch. There are also problems with Donald Patterson (Robert Blake), the man who controls the tracks. He puts his "money train" above everything, so when Charlie (Harrelson) and John (Snipes) delay that train with their police work, he gets mad. Another thing about money: Charlie is a bad gambler and owns a man named Mr. Brown (Scott Sowers) a lot of it. Jennifer Lopez, she plays Officer Grace Santiago, is the love interest for one of the two leads, of course leading to friction between them.

The film is called 'Money Train' so you understand the main story has to do with that train. I liked that story. The other stories seem to be there for Harrelson or Snipes and the fun they can have with them. The Lopez-character is necessary to explain certain actions that follow, the Cooper-character provides the film with some extra action-sequences. I didn't mind those things. They make sure the film delivers what it promises us. Action and comedy. Every scene between Snipes and Harrelson makes you smile. As a team they come close to Owen Wilson with anybody (Ben Stiller, Jackie Chan). If you don't expect too much there is a very good chance you will enjoy 'Money Train'.

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.