Red Line (2013)

Undescribable Perfection

A lot of fun.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Tori is on the phone with her father and they are not getting along. So she is pretty upset already when she gets on the subway. At some point we learn about others who are getting on the subway too, or at least we think we do. Some of these people might not be telling the truth. But here is what we think we know. Adam proposes to Rubina and is giving her a ring, but they are Muslim and a ring is not a part of their tradition. Boyd is an actor. Mason is a veteran of Iraq. Al is an engineering student of Brazilian heritage. Sam is a history teacher who is married to Kathy. Yolanda is a medical professional of some kind who can't speak much English. And Jared and Kristine have a young daughter Dillon.Something terrible happens and people die. At first I thought there was a shooter but it later becomes clear there must have been an explosion. Apparently the train car is on its side and there's no easy way out. There is no one in charge and these ordinary people have to find the solutions to their problems. Some are hurt enough that they might die. Tori calms down and copes quite well. Jared thinks Kristine (who stays remarkably calm considering everything) is worse off than Adam and insists Kristine be helped first. Whatever is wrong with Kristine, something is always blurry. I saw this happen in another movie where someone was so seriously injured she died. The important thing is Kristine is trapped. So is Sam, but he isn't hurt, as long as he can be freed. Kathy is dead and so is a police officer.Eventually, everyone who is able to help can get involved. Yolanda, as the only one who seems to have medical training, does what she can, and Kristine can translate for her, but help is needed from outside and the group needs a way to escape. So there is a lot of work to do, and risks must be taken.And then someone discovers a second bomb. Worse yet, what if one of the group set off the first bomb and is ready to kill more people? What if the terrorist actually intends to commit suicide and does not have a way out? The group must deal with many moral dilemmas. Should they figure out who did the deed and keep that person from killing again? How much should they do to this person? And what if more than one of them might be involved? This movie keeps things exciting and I was on the edge of my seat a lot. The acting performances are good, particularly that of the person playing the terrorist. The excitement of solving the mystery and the urgency of preventing more deaths make this quite entertaining. And of course there are the moral dilemmas. Even young Dillon does something quite surprising.I think it's worth seeing.

This is the type of suspense movie that makes the most out of a limited setting, as the vast majority of the film takes places underground on a subway as a terrorist bomb derails a train, and it looks like the saboteur is among the surviving passengers. This is a good combination of suspense, action, and whodunnit as another bomb is discovered and the remaining passengers try to figure out who blew the train up. Basically, this is a harmless time passer if you like this typer of movie-I might recommend it. I liked it. The cast worked well together, and I found myself on the edge of my seat.** 1/2 out of ****

This movie was well played on all accounts! Seeing fellow Princeton native, Kevin Sizemore was a welcome surprise! The suspense with the unknown villain really kept me interested. Suspenseful music would have made it more spine tingling. Use of the little girl to help in the capture of the villain was something new. The typical profile of the middle eastern man that everyone blamed really took the focus off the real villain! Would like to have seen more in the scenery. Yes it was a train crash, but more fire and dangerous conditions would have added to the drama. Also, could have played on the lack of fresh oxygen. Glad to have the opportunity to watch and hope to see more!

If you have watched Open Water 2: Adrift. This is the train version, but funnier. It was classed as a thriller but the most thrilling thing was the little girls name, Dillon. Unintentional comedy was it's best point like the fact that as soon as the train crashed they knew each others names and classic lines like "are you OK" even though a train has just crashed. The death of the person playing the "hero" has me crying in laughter, were he crawled down the side of the train and a rock fell on his head and killed him instantly and no one seemed to care and if they did they didn't show it very well and the lack of background music just made it worse. The woman impaled to the wall had the best part as she just sat down for an hour and half.