Flick Pick: The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three

The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three
(United Artists,1974)

This is the original and genuine article: accept no poor and hopelessly mis-envisioned later substitutes. Walter Matthau made an entire career of playing world-weary deadpan everymen with a hard-edged sense of humor, and he's hitting on all cylinders in this turn. Robert Shaw is meticulous and menacing as an absolutely cold-blooded and ruthless criminal leading a small gang of men to hijack a NY subway train and making the moves to get away with it in this perfectly executed howdunit. The only thing predictable about this movie is that once it unfolds, the audience remains hooked to the final shot.