by BoB Grimm
b gr imm@ ne wsr e v ie w.c o m
“No, really, darling, there are good scripts in this world, somewhere.”
Off the rails
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10.13.16
And, yet, she’s able to put together key elements of a woman’s disappearance while racing by on a train with a blood alcohol count in the stratosphere. Sorry, sometimes scripts just ask me to go to Despite good performances from a cast that places I can’t go, and I couldn’t go along for the includes Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux and Allison ride on this one. I found it too silly. Too much Janney, director Tate Taylor’s The Girl on the of this movie calls for the viewer to accept some Train winds up being a little too ridiculous for a unrealistic circumstances and situations in a movie that wishes to be taken seriously. movie based in reality. Blunt spends much of the movie blotto Did I still enjoy the movie on some levels? drunk as Rachel Watson, a slurring alcoholic Yes, somewhat. I like how Blunt plays inebriwho aimlessly rides a train to New York City ated in this movie. She’s a total mess, but she every day, spying on the people living in her keeps herself sympathetic. Theroux is great as former house, as well as the neighbors. Rachel the confused, protective ex who pleads with his is divorced from Tom (Theroux), who seemingly current wife to cut Rachel a break, up until the couldn’t take Rachel’s drinking and their inabilpoint where he can no longer defend her. Janney ity to have a child. Tom is remarried to Anna is awesome as the grinning investigator who (Rebecca Ferguson), they have a child, and they doesn’t buy Rachel’s story. I want another movie would really like Rachel to stay away. with her as the main character. Tom and Nancy’s nanny, There’s a big mystery at Megan (Haley Bennett), lives play here, and the answer to nearby with her husband, (Luke that mystery becomes obvious Evans). Rachel spies on them perhaps earlier than Taylor in their most intimate moments suspects it does. Still, I liked as she races by on the train, how the mystery played out, and envying what she sees as the the performance opportunities it perfect young romance. Then, leads to for some of the performNancy sees Megan with another Director: Tate Taylor ers. Some of the cast gets to go man—setting off an odd, drunken Starring: Emily Blunt, Justin to truly dark places, and they do tailspin that results in her getting Theroux, Allison Janney it well. involved in the drama when On a technical level, this is Megan goes missing. a very good-looking movie, creepily shot by So, for starters, I’m just not down with this Charlotte Bruus Christensen, with a terrific score premise. A deliriously drunk woman is able to by Danny Elfman. Even though his movie goes to decipher the goings-on inside homes as she races some goofy extremes, Taylor clearly knows how by in a train. Yes, sometimes the train slows to get strong performances from his cast, and down, and she does know the inhabitants somehe’s assembled a nice one. what, but this is a highly unlikely plot gimmick The Girl on the Train has its problems, but it that’s stretched out to unrealistic proportions. isn’t a complete waste of time. See it if you are Then she gets involved with the missing a Blunt fan, or if you’re a fan of the book. If woman’s husband, and eventually finds herself a you haven’t read the book, could care less about target in the investigation. Blunt—strange, but possible—and like your Rachel is the most unreliable of characters, thrillers a little more plausible, this one might not constantly blurred by hard alcohol she slurps be for you. Ω from a sippee cup. The script calls for many of her observations and actions to be unreliable due to her constant intoxication. She blacks out, loses time, and even has other characters telling her lies to convince her she’s behaving abnormally.
The Girl on the Train
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