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Runaway

Unstoppable is one of my favorite movies of all time, thanks to Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson, a wonderfully simple plot, and almost nonstop action laced with the perfect amount of character depth and development in a film format.

The premise: Based on true events, the movie depicts what happens when a slacker railroad employee makes a series of mistakes that turns a train into a speeding, unmanned runaway missile of molten phenol and diesel fuel. The unlikely saviors are Frank Barnes (played beautifully by Denzel), a 28-year veteran railroader being forced to retire with half-benefits, and Will Colson (Chris's best role to date, I think), a newly-hired rookie having family problems due to jealousy over his pretty young wife. These two start out not liking each other, but are forced to set that aside in order to chase and catch the runaway before it derails and destroys a highly populated area.

This is a very blue-collar workplace sort of story that shows how ordinary people can overcome immense difficulties, come up with innovative solutions, and will cheerfully put their own lives on the line for the greater good. It dramatizes the incident on which it was based, but does that very well. I havve to stop talking about how things were versus how they are now because I'll just offend everyone, but let's say it's not a story I would expect to happen today.

Downsides: Zero. I can say that about only a handful of films, too. Denzel and Chris are wonderful, totally believable and enchanting, and Rosario is absolute perfection as the rebellious yardmaster trying to help them. Unstoppable is available to watch for free with ads on Tubi, and worth every minute of the 98 minute watch.

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Maria Zannini said…
Serendipity! I read your review mere hours before the movie showed up on tv. We loved it! Thank you.

Greg has worked with phenols for decades and can attest to its volatile nature. The only real problem I found with the movie (which I'm sure was created for the movie) is that when a chemical plant ships dangerous material, there is someone you can contact immediately, 24/7. The plant itself would've sent their own Hazmat team in a real emergency.
December 29, 2025 at 6:10 AM
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