Subway

Directed by Luc Besson, Subway follows a thief (Christopher Lambert’s Fred) as he takes refuge among the quirky denizens that reside beneath the Paris subway system. Filmmaker Besson kicks Subway off with a visceral and thoroughly exciting car chase that’s not, unfortunately, indicative of what’s to follow, as the movie segues into a lackadaisical midsection that slowly-but-surely drains the viewer’s interest – which is a shame, certainly, given that Besson has packed the proceedings with a number of eye-popping set pieces (eg one of the aforementioned underground dwellers escapes from the cops on rollerskates). Besson’s heavy reliance on oddball elements wreaks havoc on the film’s already-tenuous momentum, to be sure, and it’s worth noting, as well, that Subway suffers from an almost total lack of compelling (or even distinctive) supporting characters. The style-over-substance vibe does ensure, ultimately, that the movie only works in small doses, and while there are undoubtedly plenty of indelible moments and images here, Subway can’t help but finally come off as a disappointment from a talented yet perpetually erratic filmmaker.

** out of ****

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