RSS 2.0 FeedMarch 31, 2010, Film
" The Girl on the Train"
The French film "The Girl on the Train" attempts to take dramatic license with a false accusation about an anti-Semitic attack, but ends up derailing in the process.
With any good novel, the most important thing for the writer to do is grab the reader's attention with the first sentence or paragraph. The same principal should hold true for cinema. No filmmaker should want his audience to be asking halfway through the film, "Where is this story going?" Unfortunately, The Girl on the Train is a one-way ticket to boredom.
Inspired by true events, The Girl on the Train, or what should have been called The Girl Who Cried Wolf, is set in modern day France where anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise. It's against that backdrop that Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne), a lying daydreamer who would rather roller blade than work, moves in with an aggressive, creepy wrestler named Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle).
What the naive Jeanne doesn't know is that Franck is helping a drug dealer by watching over his stash until his return. It goes disastrously wrong and Franck dismisses her, causing her fragile psyche to collapse. Perhaps out of a desire for attention, Jeanne cuts herself up, puts swastikas on her stomach, and claims six men attacked her on a train because they thought she was a Jew.
Jeanne's devoted mother, Louise (Catherine Deneuve) reaches out to well-known Jewish attorney Samuel Bleistein (Michel Blanc) who had a crush on her when they were young. Bleistein takes on Jeanne's case out of a favor to Louise but soon realizes that her story, which creates a national uproar, is false.
Even after 30 minutes it's difficult to know where The Girl on the Train is headed. It's pacing is horrible and the dramatic elements are disjointed at best. The only tension in the entire 105-minute running time is Franck's obsessive pursuit of Jeanne and his later fight with a local drug dealer.
Sadly, other than what the principal characters say and a few generalized sound bites in the background, we never get a true feel for the outrage the French nation has towards Jeanne's lies. It's also difficult to call her a sympathetic victim of circumstance because Dequenne's sub par performance has less personality than a piece of lumber.
The film's original intent is also damaged by a distracting side story about the on again/off again relationship between Bleistein's bickering son and ex-wife, not to mention his grandson's impending Bar Mitzvah. Neither element adds anything to the central storyline, if there is one.
Lastly, by not exploring further the relationship between Louise and Bleistein, the director also missed out on a great opportunity to fully utilize the talents of a legendary actress like Deneuve. It's an unforgivable blunder.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, The Girl on the Train receives a D.
The Girl on the Train is unrated and has a running time of 105 minutes.
Now showing through April 1 @
Glenwood Arts
9575 Metcalf, Overland Park
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-4404 for more information.
Indie Film Editor
Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.
In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.
Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.
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