THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

By Joyce and Don Fowler
Posted 10/20/16

* * * ½

(Challenging mystery)

It is always fun to be challenged at the movies.

Paula Hawkins’ best-selling novel was a challenge to readers, as her protagonist was a complex and confused …

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THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Posted

* * * ½

(Challenging mystery)

It is always fun to be challenged at the movies.

Paula Hawkins’ best-selling novel was a challenge to readers, as her protagonist was a complex and confused character whose memory and perception were fuzzy thanks to alcohol and other influences.

Emily Blunt has taken the character of Rachel and made her a sympathetic woman who sees a crime but wrestles with her memory, not being certain what is real and what just may be fantasy. We pick up much of her feelings through her voiceover, as she tries to clarify what she has seen and put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.

If you have read the book, you will recall her past marriage to a man who has moved on to another woman and started a new family. You watch Rachel take a train from the suburbs to Manhattan every day, passing their house and observing events along the way.

The story unfolds slowly over nearly two hours from different perspectives and a variety of people involved directly or indirectly. You may have trouble keeping everything straight because, like a good mystery, things are not always as they seem, so pay attention.

As we learn more about Rachel’s past and the truth behind those closest to her, one clarification of a traumatic event starts to unravel a deep mystery.

Go into this movie with an open mind, a need to be challenged and a hope for Rachel and her sanity. The resolution is a jolt to your thinking and perception and very satisfying. We hope we have whetted your appetite for a good story and some great acting by a most competent cast.

Rated R, with violence, profanity and a bit of sex and nudity, all done discretely.

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