Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Lisa Kudrow
Rating: B-
There is nothing like a good whodunit mystery thriller to peak a moviegoer’s interest. Films like Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Basic Instinct, and the wildly popular Gone Girl offer up a classic dark film noir experience with twists and turns that keep audiences entertained while trying to guess the big reveal of the plot. The highly anticipated film adaptation of The Girl on the Train, a novel by Paula Hawkins, is being brought to the big screen by director Tate Taylor (The Help). This murder mystery takes us to an upscale Westchester neighborhood that runs parallel with a commuter train route and follows the compulsions of a female passenger that is a modern day Peeping Tom.
Rachel (Emily Blunt), a messed up self-destructive alcoholic that still mourns the loss of her failed marriage, finds herself riding the train from Manhattan to Westchester every day to get glimpses of the home she shared with her ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux) and reminisces over the whimsical charm of her past life. Rachel becomes fixated with Megan (Haley Bennett), a beautiful girl who lives next door to her previous residence. She watches Haley interact with her husband Scott (Luke Evans) and creates fantasies in her head of the fabulous life Haley leads. Envy seeps from her veins as Rachel watches the girl who represents the life she believes should have been hers. One day, much to Rachel’s horror, the illusion of Haley is shattered when she spots the lovely blonde in the arms of another man. Rachel becomes obsessed with Haley and sets herself on a mission to teach the young adulteress a lesson or two about risking losing a life most people only dream of. In a drunken frenzy, Rachel gets off the train and spots Haley walking under a tunnel. Rachel’s anger and disgust is magnified by her inebriated state as she frantically tries to catch up with Haley. But, the next thing Rachel knows she is waking up in her apartment with no recollection of what happened the night before. News of Haley missing reaches Rachel and now her mission shifts to finding out what happened the night she got off the train and how to solve the mystery of Megan’s puzzling disappearance.
The film is filled with several flashbacks to when Rachel was married to Tom and the aftermath she experiences once he leaves her and marries Anna (Rebecca Ferguson). There seems to be something off with Anna, the new mother that can talk of nothing but life with a baby, and her husband who returns home to her every day with a false smile on his face. We watch Rachel becoming more neurotic as she stalks Tom and his family. Other flashes from the past include a history lesson on Haley and it is revealed that the young housewife has plenty of dysfunction of her own as she confesses to her shrink, Dr. Abdic (Edgar Ramírez), about how unhappy she is enduring a life with a controlling husband. Rachel, Anna, and Haley are three women whose fates will be tied together.
Once the media reveals that Haley’s bludgeoned body is found, the missing person’s case becomes a homicide. Now Rachel desperately struggles to recall the events of that night. Meanwhile, Detective Riley (Allison Janney) makes Rachel the prime suspect in the murder. Attempting to stay one step ahead of the detective, Rachel starts piecing together the fragments of her memory that she believes hold the key to Haley’s death.
This movie version of the popular crime novel starts off intriguing as we follow Rachel on her train rides hearing her thoughts as she reminisces of a life lost. There is anticipation of what is to come next as we watch her world through her prying eyes. But as things start to unfold the twisted tale does not take on the feel of clever psychological thriller, and becomes a little too simplistic in its explanation of the crime. For the most part this is a dull and morose tale of murder that falls short of from being engaging. The two lead male characters, Scott and Tom, are fairly one dimensional sexual deviants that don’t have too much to say. The two supporting female characters, Anna and Megan, don’t offer much interest in the movie either. Megan comes across as nothing more than a male Barbie doll fantasy and all Anna talks about is the importance of motherhood. There is nothing impressive about the supporting characters that should be playing a more important role in the storyline. Holding the movie together is Emily Blunt’s portrayal of Rachel. The actress manages to capture someone broken down by grief, low self-esteem, and depression. Her physical appearance alone is enough to make us believe that she is losing her sanity. Blunt does a great job of playing deranged as she shows off a neurotic, compulsive, lying, and obsessed woman keeping things interesting and preventing the movie from being a complete bore.
The Girl on the Train delves into the darkness hidden behind seemingly perfect lives and might just make many watching be more careful about what they wish for. The formula for this gloomy tale, that should have left us in suspense until the end, falls apart quickly. With little left to the imagination, it is pretty easy to solve the case of the dead girl in the woods about half way through the film. Fans of the story might be better off sticking with the book to experience the fun of solving a whodunit caper.
