The Girl on the Train

Henry Ian Cusick plays Danny who is an Englishman making documentaries in the US. One day he sees a girl on a train who has been crying. He is strangely drawn to her and decides to act on his impulses. She is enigmatic and mysterious and he finds himself wanting to see her again.

Then they do meet and she uses her feminine ways to get him to act out of character and take him down a path that once he has set foot on it, there is no turning back.

Now this is a well written, filmed and acted film. There is a lot of clever observations on life and some real chemistry between the main players. The film works by using flash backs to flesh out what has already transpired and it is done rather well. The problem is that it is all a bit too contrived and unbelievable and the dénouement is just a bit too much to be taken seriously so it loses marks big time.

In New York City, the documentarian Danny Hart (Henry Ian Cusick) is making a documentary about the survivor of a concentration camp Morris Herzman (David Margulies). While filming on the street, Danny becomes obsessed by a woman in the middle of the crowd. He meets her on the train, and she tells him that her name is Lexi (Nicki Aycox). Danny unsuccessfully looks for Lexi at the train station until one day she meets him. They befriend each other and Lexi asks Danny to follow and film her husband. What are her intentions?

"The Girl on the Train" (2014) is a verbose American movie with a very simple story. The good cast, with Stephen Lang, Henry Ian Cusick and Nicki Aycox have good performances, but the messy screenplay does not help them. The dialogs are pointless and tiresome. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Perigosa Atração" ("Dangerous Attraction")

Unfortunately there are 4 movies with this same title, all produced between 2009 - 2016, so before you watch this movie, make sure you are seeing the right one. At the time that I am writing this review there are only 10 prior reviews, with an average of just 4.5 stars out of 10. I almost didn't watch this movie because of its low overall score but I'm very glad that I did because it turns out that this suspense/mystery/love film is at least 9 stars. Compared to the usual mystery movie it is a big breath of fresh air. The dialog is very thoughtful, in most places philosophical, with the characters discussing the relationship of love to stories and of story-telling to reality (and much more). After so many mystery movies with standard dialogs and plots, this film is very refreshing.

The movie involves several parallel stories, with each addressing the nature of the role of deceit and love in life. For example, an elderly Jewish man tells of his experiences in Nazi Germany while interviewed by the hero (a film-maker named Danny Hart, played very aptly by Henry Ian Cusick). In parallel, Danny himself is being interviewed by someone else (I won't say who) and tells his own story of meeting a young woman on a train. Each character, in turn, tells their own stories about yet other characters.

There are so many twists and turns in the plot that I was reminded of The Magus. At the end of the movie I spent quite some time thinking about the statements made by the characters and about the film's conclusion, which in general is the sign of a very good movie -- like reading a short story by Somerset Maugham.

The movie's plot structure might be too difficult for the average viewer but will be thoroughly enjoyed by those who like a complex, thoughtful, intriguing movies regarding good, evil, love, betrayal, truth, art, reality -- for them this movie will deliver an unique experience (like Wood Allen's 1989 movie Crimes and Misdemeanors).

I normally don't review movies but I felt that this movie deserved a much higher rating. I will not give it a 10 just to raise it's rating. I believe it deserves a score of 9. The reason that it is not a 10 (at least for me) is something I cannot discuss here because I don't want to include any spoilers.

I think that a movie of this caliber (although shot in just 17 days) deserves a much wider audience. I have no connection of any sort to anyone involved in the making of this movie.

Had wanted to watch this film to see Nicki Aycox's performance. For those looking for a Maxim femme fetale version.. binged.it/1xencd2 .. be advised she's not lookin at all like that in this role (although it seems to have called for it). As for the film itself.. can understand what many are saying about the dialogue. Sometimes writer-director's are at a disadvantage, here it appears to have gone that way. Don't have any huge issues with the acting.. but the scrip was made more complicated than need be.. that coupled with the scene jumping all over the place.. it just all becomes overload. Maybe a second viewing (and using subtitles) will bring it more into focus.

I came to this film on Amazon thinking I was going to see the 2016 movie by the same name. I must read the captions more closely. If I had I would have avoided what turned out to be a juvenile essay on the meaning of love and life.

When i was 17 or so. after being in love four or five times, and reading too much Sartre in between, I wrote several short stories about love and life filled with overwrought observations that didn't wear well with time. My Dad, a writer, tried to be kind. Save them because they will tell you who you were then and believe me you'll forget, he said. And while they're not very good they do have the virtue of being sincere.

Precisely what this film lacks; instead its gratuitous world-weariness is simply cynical. My juvenile efforts may have been sincere but they didn't ring true because I lacked experience.The author of this film seems to suffer the same deficiency - he fantasizes instead of seeing , thinking, and observing. Which is strange; you'd think someone who is experienced enough to make a technically proficient two hour movie would have moved beyond juvenile fantasies about these potent subjects. Alas, not so in the 2013 version of The Girl on A Train. Do yourself a favor and wait for the 2016 movie by the same name which by all accounts is pretty good.