The much-maligned New York City subway, most often used in films as a gritty location for crime and improbable chase scenes, receives refreshingly fair treatment in Subway Stories. Based on 10 stories submitted by viewers to an HBO contest, each segment showcases a different group of actors, directors, and writers unified by a desire to pay tribute to an American institution which can be both more frightening and more humane than its reputation suggests. Here, complex human encounters take place amongst complete strangers, and split-second decisions are made to connect with, ignore, or lash out at fellow passengers with bizarre and occasionally sublime results. A prim suburban matron is mistaken for homeless by the end of one story, following a series of missteps brought about by her paralyzing fear of city people. A woman, in the most moving story, is stranded underground on the way to her mother's deathbed, and spellbinds the crowd on the platform with a song wailed into the greasy public-phone receiver, hoping to reach her mother's ear in time. Private fear exposed, private pain exorcised in the most public of spaces, the subway jostles psyches as unpredictably as it does bodies. The directors preserve the utilitarian queasiness of public transportation with its harsh lights, gum-encrusted platforms, and rushing crowds, while creating the possibility that anything could happen. Actors as diverse as Bonnie Hunt and Gregory Hines flesh out characters at moments of crisis with fine performances ranging from gentle to hysterical; Christine Lahti is hilarious as a yuppie at the end of her rope. Subway Stories is a thought-provoking alternative to Hollywood's version of New York, as well a fascinating rat's-eye view of its mythical melting pot.