Did you see the Taking of Pelham One Two Three remake this weekend? Me, neither. And why should you? By most (but not all) accounts, it's a by-the-numbers Tony Scott picture that borrows the title and a few other conceits from the 1974 original, but lacks the humor (and the score) that made the first film a cult classic. (This was entirely predictable, of course.)
Christian Toto picks up a theme that Joel Mathis raised in our podcast a few weeks back: Could a guy like Walter Matthau, the hero of the original Pelham One Two Three, ever get cast as the lead in an action drama today? Toto explores some possibilities in his latest article for BoxOffice.com. Fact is, Toto writes, "Few of today's biggest stars look like the guy or gal one might find sitting next to them on a subway."
Are there exceptions? Sure. Toto mentions some. We discussed some in the podcast, and even named our candidate for the 21st century's Walter Matthau. Hint: He's never played an action hero, but he was the villain once.
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