A ruthless hostage-taker (John Travolta) openly communicates with a subway dispatcher (Denzel Washington), who tries to negotiate the safe release of several passengers. “The Taking of Pelham 123,” directed by Tony Scott, is a decent hostage thriller; there are notable performances by Washington (as a flawed, aging family man) and on occasion, Travolta (when he’s not being over-the-top). James Gandolfini is okay as an erring politician, but his squeaky, Jay Leno-esque voice here gets distracting. The music and text graphics (“11 minutes left,” etc.) are sometimes intrusive, as well. While the drama loses consistency because of such factors, “Pelham” still works because of the solid focus on character examination.
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