“The Girl on the Train” is the story of Rachel Watson’s life post-divorce. Every day she takes the train in to work in New York City, and every day the train passes by her old house, the house where she lived with her ex-husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. As she attempts to move on from that stage of her life, she starts watching a couple, Megan and Scott Hipwell, who live a few houses down. She daydreams about what she envisions is Megan’s perfect life. The two households connect when Rachel’s ex-husband and his wife employ Megan as their nanny. Things become complicated and troubling when Rachel, who battles alcoholism, wakes up with a horrible hangover, bloody and bruised from the night before. She knows something terrible has happened. Then come the TV reports: Megan is missing. Rachel remembers seeing Megan the night of her drunken bout and becomes invested in the case, trying to find out what happened to her.
“The Girl on the Train” is entertaining, but you have to put aside your sense of realism. Every time Rachel passes the home where she resided with her ex-husband or their neighbors’ place, she manages to see something fascinating—someone walking around in their underwear or having sex visibly through a window or, if they are outside, kissing or sitting by a romantic pit fire. These two couples seem to live their entire lives
on full display by a passing train.
However, ultimately, this movie works because Emily Blunt as Rachel absolutely shines in the lead role. Blunt fully embodies this multifaceted character, which is the key to the success of this movie.
I have written before of how difficult character-driven films are because they lack special effects, which alone provide significant entertainment value, thus allowing for a weaker plot. But this story is compelling, with superior acting,
and it gets a See It! rating.
The film is delivered in a choppy disjointed fashion, but it all comes together in the end. It gets a “C” for cast diversity. Set in the highly diverse New York City metropolitan area, the only people of color are in minor or background scenes.
“The Girl on the Train” is rated R for violence, sexual content, language and nudity and is 112 minutes in length. And it’s a See It!