MONEY TRAIN

"MONEY TRAIN"
(1995) (Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	Mild	Heavy	Moderate	Heavy

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Mild	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Minor	Minor	Minor	Heavy

QUICK TAKE:: A debt-laden transit cop tries to talk his partner and foster brother into robbing a money train.

PLOT:: Charlie (WOODY HARRELSON) and John (WESLEY SNIPES) are N.Y. city transit cops and foster brothers. They patrol the subway system looking for criminals and occasionally accompany the money train which carries the subway's earnings. Charlie and John hate their boss, the egotistical, non-caring Patterson (ROBERT BLAKE) who in turn hates them. He thinks that they're corrupting their new partner, Grace (JENNIFER LOPEZ). Adding to their problems is Charlies' huge gambling debt which makes the prospect of robbing the money train very alluring. From then on, they must contend with their mutual attraction to Grace, the tyranny of Patterson and the prospect of robbing the money train.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Yes, especially if they like either Snipes or Harrelson or their last movie they did together, "White Men Can't Jump."

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For pervasive strong language, violence and a sex scene.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: WOODY HARRELSON plays a hard drinking, compulsive gambler who plots to rob the money train and thus be a "winner."
WESLEY SNIPES plays the big brother to Charlie who tries to keep him in line and is always bailing him out.
ROBERT BLAKE plays the tyrannical transit chief who puts lives at stake in order to keep his money train running and safe.
JENNIFER LOPEZ plays the tough as nails, no nonsense new partner who sleeps with both Charlie and John.; WESLEY SNIPES plays the big brother to Charlie who tries to keep him in line and is always bailing him out.
ROBERT BLAKE plays the tyrannical transit chief who puts lives at stake in order to keep his money train running and safe.
JENNIFER LOPEZ plays the tough as nails, no nonsense new partner who sleeps with both Charlie and John.; ROBERT BLAKE plays the tyrannical transit chief who puts lives at stake in order to keep his money train running and safe.
JENNIFER LOPEZ plays the tough as nails, no nonsense new partner who sleeps with both Charlie and John.; JENNIFER LOPEZ plays the tough as nails, no nonsense new partner who sleeps with both Charlie and John.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Charlie acts drunk, but this is just a decoy operation to catch thieves who prey on drunk people in the subway.
John orders two "Jack Daniels" and two beers for Grace and himself at a bar. Charlie then arrives and carries a beer.
Charlie and John drink a pitcher of beer at a bar.
Charlie comes to work drunk and reeking of alcohol.
Charlie is in a bar finishing off another of many shots of liquor.
Charlie drinks liquor from a bottle after having been beaten up.
Three policemen on horseback are seen drinking from a flask at night.

BLOOD/ GORE: Blood runs from a thief's head down into a small pool of blood beside him on the ground.
Charlie's nose is bloody and there's blood on his shirt after a fight with other transit cops.
A man is seen with a bloody nose.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Some young punks, seeing Charlie as a drunk, decide to rob him.
Patterson sends his money train through the tunnels even though he knows that police are chasing some thieves in the very same tunnels.
Charlie and John don't get along with the other transit officers and often get into fights with them.
Patterson wails at John and Charlie for "delaying" his money train. He says, "F*ck with my train and I'll kill you."
Charlie steals Patterson's beloved model train off his desk.
Charlie takes money that John gave him (to buy Christmas gifts) and blows it in a poker game.
Black characters refer to other black characters as "niggers."
John urinates between two parked cars on the street.
Charlie often tells John about his plan to rob the money train.
An elderly pickpocket steals Charlie's money that he's taking to the poker players he owes the money to.
Charlie finally steals the money train and John first tries to stop him, but then decides to help him escape.
A worker states, "If the train can't stop, people will die." Patterson responds, "That's what we live with," and continues his dangerous plan on stopping the money train.
Charlie equates stolen money with being a winner.
Patterson puts his money train ahead of innocent people's lives.
Charlie and John elude the police and walk the streets as "innocent" men. John is upset, however, when he finds that Charlie did steal a lot of the money (John thought everything would be okay since he thought that they'd taken no money).

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: John smashes a thief into a wall and handcuffs him. John and Charlie then chase the other thief, knocking people over as they enter the tunnels and finally chase him to the money train. The guards pull out their guns, order the thief to stop, and when he doesn't they shoot him dead. John then punches one of the guards for shooting the kid instead of just stopping him.
A deranged man robs money from and then squirts flammable liquid into a token booth. He elbows the attendant, knocking her to the floor, and then lights the booth on fire. The attendant is trapped inside by the fire and John shoots his gun to break through the glass to save her. Grace chases the man, but he knocks her gun from her hand and then hits her in the face.
Four young punks confront John and Charlie with their guns drawn planning on robbing them. Charlie and John then pull their guns and argue amongst themselves making the punks think that they're crazy. The punks finally leave and Charlie and John put their guns away.
The gambling guys beat up Charlie (hitting him in the gut and face) for not delivering their money to them.
The deranged man returns and pushes a commuter in front of an oncoming train to create a diversion. He then goes to the ticket booth where Grace is working undercover. He starts pouring in the flammable liquid but is stopped when Charlie yells at him. Grace then pulls her gun and fires at him through the window. Charlie pulls his gun and repeatedly fires at the man who knocks over people as he flees the station. Outside, Charlie fires a warning shot into the air which causes a horse drawn carriage to go out of control and nearly run over two children.
John chases the deranged man back into the subway tunnels where the man hits him with a large metal rod. John kicks him away and the man pulls out his flammable liquid as John pulls out his gun. They struggle and the man gets John's gun. John gets the rod and strikes it on the track which causes a spark which ignites the liquid and catches the man on fire. The flaming man then rushes John who flips him over and into the path of an oncoming train which smashes into the man.
Charlie and John have a fight on the money train as John tries to stop the robbery. Punches are thrown to the guts and faces and John nearly falls from the train and dangles by his feet. Charlie just pulls him back in the train in time.
The money train crashes into the back of a passenger train, damaging it and tossing the people to the floor inside it. Charlie and John then climb on top of the train and this time Charlie nearly falls off and John has to pull him to safety. They then jump to the passenger train just as the money train derails and is destroyed along with much of the tunnel.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Guns, Machine guns: Used by the transit guards to shoot a young punk dead as he runs up toward them.
Handguns: Often used by Charlie and John to point at and/or shoot at the bad guys.
Handgun: John pulls his gun and points it at Charlie to get him to stop jumping up and down on John's bed.
Flammable liquid: Twice used by a madman to catch a transit ticket booth on fire.
Handguns: Used by four punks as they try to rob Charlie and John who then pull out their own handguns and point them at each other.
Knife: Used by a man to threaten John and then to accidentally cut one of his own associates.
Handguns: Used by guards to shoot at Charlie as he steals the money train.
Machine guns/Handguns: Used by police to shoot at Charlie and John in the runaway money train.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: There are several scenes where people rob others and steal money.
John urinates between two parked cars on the street.
A man squirts flammable liquid into a ticket booth and sets it on fire. (Listed because someone already has imitated this action)
Phrases: "Shut up," "Jerk," "Bastard," "Bitches," "Pissed off," and "Niggers" (used by black people toward black people).

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): Some of the action scenes are accompanied by mildly suspenseful music.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 88 "f" words (12 with the prefix "mother"), 50 "s" words, 17 "ass" words, 16 hells, 8 damns, 7 SOB's, 2 slang terms for male genitals (the "d" and "p" words), 1 slang term for female genitals (the "p" word), 1 crap, and 11 uses of "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ," 5 uses of "Oh God," and 3 uses of "God damn" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Two women spot John (as a drunk decoy) and decide that they're going to take him home and "...give him some lovin'."
Both Charlie and John are attracted to Grace and during one scene Charlie says, "It's too bad John's gay."
Innuendo: John and Grace dance together and she says, "I hope that's your gun poking me." He responds, "I hope it is too, cuz' it's poking me."
It's implied that Charlie and Grace have spent the night together.
John and Grace have sex. Her bare breasts are seen, and there is much moaning, rhythmic moving and groping hands.
Topless dancers are seen in a club wearing just skimpy bikini bottoms.

SMOKING: Men are seen smoking cigars during a poker game.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: There are a few scenes where Charlie laments about being John's "little brother" who is the "screw up" of the family.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Gambling.

VIOLENCE: John smashes a thief into a wall and handcuffs him. John and Charlie then chase the other thief, knocking people over as they enter the tunnels and finally come upon the money train. The guards pull out their guns, order the thief to stop, and when he doesn't they shoot him dead. John then punches one of the guards for shooting the kid instead of just stopping him.
Poker thugs hold Charlie by his feet, dangling him over the edge of a high rise balcony, for owing them $15,000. John enters with his gun drawn and resolves the situation.
A deranged man robs money from and then squirts flammable liquid into a token booth. He elbows the attendant, knocking her to the floor, and then lights the booth on fire. The attendant is trapped inside by the fire and John shoots his gun to break through the glass to save her. Grace chases the man, but he knocks her gun from her hand and then hits her in the face.
Four young punks confront John and Charlie with their guns drawn planning on robbing them. Charlie and John then pull their guns and argue amongst themselves making the punks think that they're crazy. The punks finally leave and Charlie and John put their guns away.
Charlie and John don't get along with the other money train guards, and after some taunting, Charlie punches one of the guards. A fight breaks out and Grace joins in, slugging another guard.
John and Grace spar in a boxing ring where heavy blows are dealt by both of them.
The gambling guys beat up Charlie (hitting him in the gut and face) for not delivering their money to them.
The deranged man returns and pushes a commuter in front of an oncoming train to create a diversion. He then goes to the ticket booth where Grace is working undercover. He starts pouring in the flammable liquid but is stopped when Charlie yells at him. Grace then pulls her gun and fires at him through the window. Charlie pulls his gun and repeatedly fires at the man who knocks over people as he flees the station. Outside, Charlie fires a warning shot into the air which causes a horse drawn carriage to go out of control and nearly run over two children.
John chases the deranged man back into the subway tunnels where the man hits him with a large metal rod. John kicks him away and the man pulls out his flammable liquid as John pulls out his gun. They struggle and the man gets John's gun. John gets the rod and strikes it on the track which causes a spark which ignites the liquid and catches the man on fire. The flaming man then rushes John who flips him over and into the path of an oncoming train which smashes into the man.
After a bartender tells Charlie's he's had too much, Charlie smashes his shot glasses.
The gambling guys beat up Charlie again (hitting him in the face and gut) and throw him against a wall. They tell him that they'll next beat up John if they don't get their money.
John goes and beats up several of the gambling guys (with punches, kicks and head butts) who've been beating up Charlie. The main bad guy pulls out a knife and ends up cutting one of his own men by accident. John then kicks that man through a glass wall.
Charlie steals the money train and the guards shoot at him as the train pulls out of the station and Charlie throws the conductor out onto the platform.
Police ready themselves as the money train approaches a barricade. The police then open fire and bullets riddle the train as it plows through the barricade.
Charlie and John have a fight on the money train as John tries to stop the robbery. Punches are thrown to the guts and faces and John nearly falls from the train and dangles by his feet. Charlie just pulls him back in the train in time.
The money train crashes into the back of a passenger train, damaging it and tossing the people to the floor inside it. Charlie and John then climb on top of the train and this time Charlie nearly falls off and John has to pull him to safety. They then jump to the passenger train just as the money train derails and is destroyed along with much of the tunnel.
Charlie and John punch Patterson after he spits onto John.

Reviewed July 3, 1996

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