'Unstoppable'

A "two-hander" is Hollywood-speak for a movie that force-pairs an odd couple of Hollywood stars so it's easier to add character conflict to the dramatic plot. In "Unstoppable," the differences between Denzel Washington and Chris Pine take the form of age, race, and stubble. One of them is a rule breaker; the other plays it by-the-book. Studios love this kind of movie, because the power of two stars delivers double the demographics, and that duality carries over to my reaction to this poster. On the one hand, the image is story-smart and specific, and the hazardous waste symbol of the front cab ups the ante, telling us the impending crash isn't their worst-case scenario. The hovering helicopter and the speeding police car - and the small figures desperately hanging onto the speeding train - hint at the well-shot action and nail-biting near-collisions to come. On the other hand, it's "'Speed' on a train." Yeah. That's it.

Look at Washington's face; he knows it, too. (Pine, who's a star because of "Star Trek," just looks happy to be there.) "Unstoppable" isn't the movie I want to see; it's not the movie my date wants to see. But it's the movie we can both agree on. And all good relationships are about compromise.