"Unstoppable" Pits Little Guy Against Train and Corporate Overlords

In Unstoppable, an unmanned runaway freight train, laden with toxic waste, is careening across Pennsylvania! There's another train with innocent schoolchildren on the same tracks! Who will save them? Denzel Washington and Star Trek's Chris Pine — that's who — under the direction of hectic-action auteur Tony Scott. We expect — and Scott duly delivers — scenes of trains smashing through cars, trains smacking into other trains, and people trying to jump aboard moving trains from helicopters, trucks, and other moving trains. The movie is based loosely on actual events from 2001, but it's like a compendium of classic commercials for Ford pickups, Bud Lite, and Hooters. That the veteran and the rookie railroad workers —two populist paladins — should take it upon themselves to stop the runaway train is no surprise. Yet Unstoppable also places the blame for this near-disaster on the little guy — not the corporate cost-cutting that's caused numerous rail accidents in the past two decades. Our heroes may save their jobs and their town, but their company's CEO certainly gets the larger bonus.