Unstoppable

Denzel Washington is the acting equivalent of Tim Duncan: he is probably the most underrated star at what he does even though everyone acknowledges how great he is, even from an "all time" historical perspective; he is paradoxical in that way. What I mean by that is that he is always great. No matter what the movie is about, no matter what the character he plays, he so rarely has a bad outing anymore, you almost forget that he is one of the greatest actors of all time. Same thing with Tim Duncan. No matter what's going on with his team or what he is doing on the court, people forget he is one of the greatest players in NBA history (btw, Denzel would love that corollary as he is an avid NBA fan).

Unstoppable is no exception. Denzel turns in another great performance as Frank, the engineer on a railroad train who, along with Chris Pine's Will, the train's conductor, decide to catch up with and stop an unmanned train operating under its own power, guided by the railroad company supervisor Connie, played by Rosario Dawson. Denzel is effortless as Frank. We immediately embrace him as this character - an older, wiser, experienced man who has spent his life doing what he does, staying where he is at, and then is expected to teach Will the ropes even though he doesn't really like the rookie and questions his advancement on the rails. Denzel could've very easily let this character be a broad, by-the-numbers template of a character, but with a bit of subtlety, charm, and grace (and just a dash of that killer Denzel smile), he elevates the character, and by extension, the movie. That's the genius of guys like Denzel and Tim - they are able to make even the most mundane, basic jobs great, even when those jobs are actually more complex than the surface would indicate.

Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson also do a good job, although Chris's performance was the least noteworthy. I actually thought the 2nd best performance of the movie belonged to Kevin Dunn, who played the infuriating railroad executive. Just like in Transformers, he has a knack of making whatever screen time he is given memorable, which is a great gift of character actors like him (I'll give that same praise to Ethan Suplee, who is in this movie as the baffoon railroad employee that lets the train get away, but not for this movie. Check out his work in the sublime TV show My Name is Earl).

The one thing about Unstoppable I will give it credit for is that it is a fairly unique idea for a movie in that there are not a whole lot of action films set on railroads, particularly in the 21st century. Despite the unusual setting, the film does a good job of ratcheting up the tension and building to some pretty suspenseful moments, although the end of the film - how the train finally stops - is somewhat of a letdown. But that is a minor quibble.

Tony Scott has shown himself to be a good filmmaker and has a good rapport with Denzel - this is their 5th movie together. I enjoyed this film, and once they stop making movies together, Unstoppable will probably be among my favorite of their collaborations, with Man on Fire. Their synergy seems to be, well . . .

Nope, I'm not gonna say it. You know what I mean.