Runaway HIT ‘Unstoppable’ commands attention like a trainwreck

November 12, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Orlando Sentinel

There’s a train. It’s long, with lots of cars loaded with toxic chemicals. And nobody’s driving it as it hurtles toward heavily populated parts of Pennsylvania.

And Denzel and Chris Pine are the only two guys who can chase it down and stop it.

That’s all there is to Tony Scott’s lightning-fast runaway train thriller, “Unstoppable” — “a missile the size of the Chrysler Building” and a couple of movie stars playing working class Joes who want to save the day.

And that’s enough. With Scott shooting and cutting this minimalist thriller to an hour and 35 minutes of heavy metal flying at you and the cool, collected old timer, Frank (Denzel Washington) and his distracted trainee Will (Chris Pine of “Star Trek”) jumping from one car to another, dodging hazards at rail crossings, this race against the clock works.

Scott’s film, shot around the Pittsburgh area, touches on the state of the American workplace (understaffed) and the American workforce (overworked, facing layoffs). But this is a straight-ahead ticking clock thriller, with the usual Tony S. trademarks — punchy dialogue and men doing what needs to be done.

Oh yeah, and Frank is a proud father of two Hooters Girls working their way through college, Will has “issues” at home. Another Tony Scott touch.