Money Train

Personally speaking, I don't quite know what to make of this picture. I saw it again on late night cable the other night and I was laughing hysterically throughout. Wesley and Woody play two brothers (!) who work as transit cops. Woody's a gambling junkie with a huge debt on his back while Wesley plays the straight man who's getting a little tired of constantly having to bail his brother out. Desperate, Woody plans to hijack the Money Train that rides along to each station, collecting the night's collections. Folks, believe me when I tell you that it actually gets more ridiculous. Add to the mix a pyromaniac token booth bandit, a pre-lobotomy Jennifer Lopez, Robert Blake in a performance so hammy that you can almost smell the bacon coming from your tv, action sequences that are unabashedly ridiculous and you have yourself... Money Train. My favorite moment comes when Robert Blake, after having been informed of the possibility of civilian casualties if the hijacked Money Train continues to speed ahead on the local line, responds with the now-classic line, "That's what we live with." I was laughing so hard that tears were squirting out of my eyes. This movie is utterly ridiculous yet strangely riveting. Wesley Snipes plays his usual cocky, confident self and it seems to me that he won't accept a role these days unless he gets to kick someone in the face. Woody Harrelson looks like he smoked one too many blunts in this one. I actually prefer his character here over Wesley's and that's not saying much. Jennifer Lopez looks damn good but I can't help but think how stupid she is in real life. I really don't know where else to go with this review other than to recommend watching it. You might like it but not because it's quality stuff but because it'll cheer you up, it's so bad. Actual rating ** out of ***** but on the laugh-o-meter I'll give it a full **** out of *****.

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

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'.

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.