I've never read the novel by Morton Freedgood; I've neverseen the 1974 theatrical version with Walter Matthau; and I certainly missed the 1998 made-for-TV flick with Edward James Olmos and Vincent D'Onofrio (but I do love Law & Order: Criminal Intent!). Still, a healthy combination of Denzel Washington and John Travolta made this year's remakea must-see for me, even if I had to wait for the DVD.

The beginning and the end of the movie were thrilling edge-of-your-seat stuff, but the middle was bogged down with the "can we just get on with it?" kind of grinding. Travolta's "Mr. Blue" boards the New York City train that the movie is named after with three other "colorful" accomplices. Blue (AKA Ryder) is frustrated by the Mayor of New York City having incarcerated him for white- collar crimes with an excessive sentence, and he starts taking out his anger on the hostages he has on the train. And a dispatcher, Washington's Walter Garber, finds himself as the voice that Ryder longs to reach out to and make connection, both to taunt and to feel human. But in this version, different from the more traditional black-and-white, good-versus-evil set up of the previous incarnations of the plot, Garber has problems of his own.

Within the winding plot, and its sidebars, James Gandolfini plays the corrupt, apathetic NYC mayor to the hilt, but John Turturro's talent seems wasted as the police negotiator who can't get inside of Ryder's mind. Still, a bright spot in the film finds Gbenga Akinnagbe as a hostage on the train who was once a Special Forces soldier who has lost that edge and understanding in his life. Still, in a chain of events that finds him inspired by a fellow traveler whose husband was a member of the Special Forces as well, Akinnagbe's Wallace serves up our first sense of sacrificial goodness.

But for all the frills, and Tony Scott special effects, this is a duel between Ryder and Garber. Ryder is a felon; the Transit Authority wants to make Garber one. Ryder has become bitter and lacks the wherewithal to recognize his own crimes; Garber sacrifices any pretense of innocence to save the life of a hostage. Garber could have been tempted to "fall in" with the bandits, but he holds to the belief that one mistake does not make the man. Ryder needs an absolute, an answer, and Garber provides the deciding line, the decision, and the justice that is missing in Ryder's life.

The final analysis for me revolves around these two characters. Here, they are both wrong; they are both guilty and "convicted." But one chooses to wallow in that guilt and to forge a life of crime, while the other chooses to will himself to be more than he was before the mistake, to embrace a life of courage. In the end, Garber chooses hope and a future, while Ryder chooses destruction and death. That's a choice we all face in small doses everyday, and one day, we'll face with the legacy of our lives and our souls.