The Girl on the Train

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.

A very interesting movie that starts with a simple plot line then slowly becomes a rather complex story that I found difficult to follow at times. Maybe it is the constant editing between Danny with Lexi then Danny with Detective Martin then Danny with Morris (the survivor of a Nazi internment camp).

I understood Danny's obsession with Lexi but became lost with their relationship and the murder plot. This is actually a well performed story but difficult to get involved with as you just don't care about the characters and the plot skips around between too many people talking and Danny telling the whole story to the detective.

I would recommend this film to anyone seeking a mystery movie but you better pay close attention or have the movie long enough to watch it twice.

This story does pull you in initially, but by the end turns into mush, with its pseudo-philosophical outlook, which another reviewer astutely summarized, as " a combination of arty arrogance and teenage angst". The story of a Nazi concentration camp victim, which the protagonist was making a documentary about, was the most interesting part of the film. The film presents love, as the biological relationship between members of the opposite sex. I believed this in my adolescence ( "teenage angst" ), but have mostly managed to get beyond this, thank God. The monologue near the end is delivered in such a solemn, pontificating manner, it initially sounds profound, until you think about it for a couple of minutes. You then realize, it is totally concerned with an adolescent's viewpoint of love/lust. The movie would have been much better, if this speech, was omitted. I did find it represented women as conniving and irresponsible, through the female lead. It gave the pathetic, popular excuse, that if the woman is sexually attractive enough, this is OK.

The acting was quite good, as well as, the cinematography.

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")

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.