Review: The Girl On The Train (UK Cert 15)

An expertly plotted, intricate thriller, The Girl On The Train is based on the best-selling book by Paula Hawkins and directed by Tate Taylor (The Help)

Transplanting the story from London to New York, it follows Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt), a woman who forms a fascination with a young woman (Haley Bennett) who she sees from the train every day on her way to work. Rachel builds up a perfect fantasy life for the woman. But when the young woman- whose name is Megan- disappears, Rachel becomes embroiled in the mystery. But can we really trust her version of events? Is there more to Megan's disappearance than meets the eye? Could Rachel have had something to do with it?

I'm an absolute sucker for books or films with unreliable narrators- there's something deeply satisfying about a work that can skilfully pull the rug out from under you- and here, we get not one, but three, narrators who aren't telling us everything. As the layers of the story unfold, what we think we know turns out to be wrong. Dead wrong.

There is an absolutely brilliant central performance by Emily Blunt. Rachel is a fascinating, flawed character- the main character, certainly, but definitely no heroine- and Blunt plays it to the hilt with absolutely no shred of ego involved. Rachel looks haggard, eyes sunk, as alcohol and regret make their mark. She is prone to drunken outbursts and blackouts and has a very complicated relationship with her ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux) and his new wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson). There's no attempt to soften or mitigate the rough edges of the character. She is presented warts and all, and it's one of Blunt's finest dramatic performances.

Megan is a similarly contradictory character; Rachel's imagined perfect life is very different to her reality. Bennett gets to play many facets to Megan- flirty, vulnerable, brazen, distraught- which all build in to her disappearance. Occasionally, Bennett's performance lapses into cliche but that could be to do with the script. To round out our triumvirate of troubled women, we have Anna. Scared of Rachel and mistrustful of her influence on her ex-husband, all Anna wants is to be left alone to get on with her life. What could have been a stereotypical new-wife-threatened-by-the-old is given nuance by Ferguson's performance and- as the story progresses- we come to realise that perhaps there's more to Anna than meets the eye.

You may think that, being such a female-heavy story, the male characters get short shrift. Not so. Whilst it's true that Luke Evans gets lumbered with little to do other than brood and shout as Megan's husband Scott, the other main male characters- Tom, and Megan's therapist Dr. Abdic (Edgar Ramirez)- are a bit more rounded and each feeds in to the main story. Whilst I have to say I called the twist, it was less to do with any of the performances and more to do with the law of averages.

The Girl On The Train (both the book and the film) have been compared to Gone Girl, and I can see why. There's some similarities- the unreliable narrators, stories told from the female view, moments of shocking violence (although Gone Girl takes the gold on that one)- but this is far from a pale imitation. This isn't a go-in-and-switch-your-brain-off film. It is taxing, especially to keep track of the differing timelines and points of view but if you're in the mood for a dark, psychological, tricksy puzzle-box of a film, this is well worth a go.

Review: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Joy (UK Cert 12A)

Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is a divorced mother of two, who has always wanted to create things. Her parents Rudy (Robert de Niro) and Terry (Virginia Madsen) are divorced and Rudy has just returned to Joy's home after finishing with his latest girlfriend, whilst Terry spends her days watching TV soaps. The only sane person in the house is grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd) who encourages Joy to pursue her passion. Soon, Joy has a project- a self-wringing mop. Whilst this might not sound like the most gripping premise for a film ever, Joy transcends its traditional and predictable rags-to-riches storyline with a winning performance by the ever-dependable Lawrence in her third collaboration with director David O. Russell (after American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook). 

Russell directed and wrote the script, rewriting a story from Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids). The film is based in part on the story of Joy Mangaro, a housewife and inventor from Long Island, New York who invented the Miracle Mop. However, Joy's surname is never given in the film and the Miracle Mop is never named as such (except on the QVC screen). So it's not a biopic of Mangaro per se, more a film inspired by her life and story. 

Jennifer Lawrence's central performance as Joy is the best thing in the film. She's an unflappable lynchpin against the more outlandish excesses of some of the other characters who are trying to appear quirky but come across as irritating (Madsen especially, who is a terrific actress but has been given a bum role here). And whilst the film follows the tried and true pathway of rags-to-riches- plucky outsider has an idea and succeeds against the odds despite attempts to derail them- Lawrence is never less than watchable, whether negotiating in the boardroom for a shot at getting her mop advertised or dealing with her crazy family. She's been getting some awards recognition which is well deserved.

Robert de Niro's performance is broad but good, and he gets one of the most memorable wedding toasts ever seen on film. Diane Ladd is great in her supporting role as Joy's grandmother and film's narrator. There's a nice supporting turn by Bradley Cooper as QVC executive Neil Walker whom Joy meets whilst trying to get the mop marketed. What's also nice is the temptation is resisted to have Neil as a love interest for Joy. It's made clear very early on that Joy doesn't need a handsome prince to save her.

The script is quite uneven in places, relying on whimsy in place of anything concrete; the soap angle could quite easily be excised from the film with no major structural issues. There's some interesting use of flashback- you see the entire relationship of Joy and Tony's (Edgar Ramirez) relationship from first meeting to signing the divorce papers in about ten minutes flat- but there are elements of telling, not showing which is irking. 

Generally speaking, the film is decent enough but it can't decide what it wants to be. It could have been a much more straightforward biopic and been better for it. Still, Lawrence's performance saves it from being totally mediocre.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Tez