The Talking of Pelham 123 (2019)

If The Talking of Pelham 123 was 10 Years Later.

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua

Produced by: Ridley Scott, Roger Birnbaum

Plot
A man calling himself Ryder hijacks Pelham 123, a New York City Subway 6 train that departed from Pelham Bay Park station at 1:23 p.m. Ryder is accompanied by three other heavily armed men: Bashkin, Emri and former train operator Phil Ramos. They uncouple the front car from the rest of the train and take the passengers hostage. Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee Walter Garber is working the Rail Control Center as a train dispatcher and receives a ransom call from Ryder, who demands $10 million in cash be paid within 60 minutes. Ryder warns that every minute past the deadline they force him to wait, he will execute a hostage.

Bashkin kills a plainclothes New York City Transit Police officer who approaches him after recognizing that something is amiss. He and Ramos then allow all the passengers not in the front car to be released except for the motorman. Garber reluctantly negotiates with Ryder and develops a rapport, while Ramos and Emri set up Internet access in the tunnel. Ryder uses his laptop to watch the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge nearly 1,000 points during the next hour in response to the hostage-taking. One of the passenger's laptops also connects to the Internet, and the computer's webcam is activated. The webcam allows the people in the control center to observe Ryder and Ramos. Lieutenant Camonetti of the New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit enters the Rail Control Center to take over negotiations and Garber is ordered to leave the premises. The change infuriates Ryder, who shoots and kills the train's motorman in order to force Camonetti to bring Garber back. Garber blames Camonetti for the motorman's death.

Camonetti learns that Garber is being investigated for allegedly accepting a $35,000 bribe over a contract for new subway cars. Ryder also discovers the allegations through online news reports after Ramos told Ryder that Garber was a "big-shot" at the MTA and should not be dispatching trains and forces Garber to confess by threatening to kill a passenger. Garber explains that he was offered the bribe while deciding between two companies for a train contract, but also tells Ryder that he used the money to pay for his child's college tuition and insists that he would have made the same decision without the financial offer. Ryder expresses his admiration for Garber's willingness to risk himself to save a stranger. Meanwhile, the Mayor agrees to deliver the ransom money to Ryder and orders the police to deliver it. On the way to the delivery point, the police car is involved in an accident and fails to get the money there in time. Garber attempts to bluff Ryder by telling him the money has been dropped off, unaware that Ryder has been monitoring events on his laptop and knows he's being lied to. An enraged Ryder threatens to execute one of the children hostages and the child's mother. Another hostage, a former soldier, sacrifices himself to save the mother and child and is killed. A short gunfight erupts after an Emergency Services Unit police sniper is bitten by a rat and accidentally discharges his weapon, killing Ramos.

Based on clues that Garber receives during his conversations with Ryder, the police discover that Ryder's real name is Dennis Ford. He was a manager at a private equity firm before being sentenced to prison for investment fraud. Ford had agreed to a plea bargain for a three-year sentence, but was instead sentenced to ten years by the judge. One of the Mayor's aides mentions the extreme drop in the major stock indexes in response to the train hijacking, and the Mayor deduces that Ryder is actually attempting to manipulate the market via put options. Ryder demands that Garber himself deliver the ransom money, and Garber is given a pistol and flown to the terminal to make the drop. Ryder brings Garber aboard and orders him to operate the train to the next station, where he and the hijackers exit the train during a brief stop. Ryder then uses a device to rig the train to go on without them. Garber manages to separate himself from Ryder at a railway crossing and then follows him as he escapes to the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Ryder parts from Bashkin and Emri, who are later shot dead after being surrounded by police and provoking deadly force in an apparent suicide-by-cop.

The train comes to a halt safely, and police learn that Ryder is no longer on board. Ryder hails a taxi while Garber follows him in a truck. Ryder checks his laptop and finds that his scheme has amassed a $307 million profit. He leaves the cab on the Manhattan Bridge and takes the bridge's pedestrian walkway but Garber catches up to him. Garber holds Ryder at gunpoint, and Ryder gives him a 10-second ultimatum to pull the trigger. In the final seconds of the countdown, Ryder pulls out his gun and forces Garber to shoot him. As he begins to stumble, Ryder tells Garber "You're my goddamn hero." He then collapses and dies. Afterward, the mayor thanks Garber for saving the hostages and assures him that, while the City will have to "go to bat" for Garber over his bribery admission, "The City has a very good batting average." The film concludes with Garber walking into his home carrying a bag of groceries, including a half-gallon of milk, instead of a gallon, that he promised he'd pick up on the way home to his wife.

Cast

 * Will Smith as Walter Garber
 * Nicolas Cage as Ryder/Dennis Ford
 * Paul Giamatti as the Mayor of New York City
 * Oscar Issac as Lt. Camonetti

Rating
PG-13