Train Dreams
What’s it rated? PG-13
What’s it worth, Anna? Full price
What’s it worth, Glen? Full price
Where’s it showing? Netflix
Co-writer and director Clint Bentley and his screenwriting partner Greg Kwedar (Jockey, Sing Sing) adapt Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name to the big screen. The film debuted at Sundance in January and had a two-week run in theaters before coming to Netflix. The decades-spanning story follows logger and railroad worker Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) navigating a rapidly changing America. (102 min.)
Glen: Poetic, poignant, and haunting, this period drama is a soulful exploration of the various life traumas that shape who we become. It’s got a real Terrance Malick vibe thanks in part to the cinematography by Adolpho Veloso. The film’s beauty matches the beauty of the story itself. Robert meets and falls in love with Gladys (Felicity Jones), and together they build a small and cozy cabin and have a child, but to earn living, he must spend weeks away from her. We witness all the little moments Robert experiences that become part of the fabric of his character. Some of the people he meets are Boomer (Clifton Collins Jr., in a small but pivotal role), Chinese railway worker Fu Sheng (Alfred Hsing), and explosives expert Arn Peeples (William H. Macy)—all three make an indelible impression on Robert, who carries their memories throughout his lifetime.
Anna: Edgerton has a knack for conveying subtle depth in his characters—still waters run deep, as they say. His portrayal of Robert is one of a many-faceted man, steady and driven, soft and deep rooted. At one point he and Gladys are devising a dream to have a farm and a sawmill. They would never have to be apart again. But hungry mouths need feeding long before such dreams can come to fruition, and Robert is once again on his way to another logging season. One poignant thread that carries throughout is his pining for home. Each trip leaves a gap where he cannot watch his daughter grow. It’s a quiet film, and my gut tells me this novella is likely a stunning read. Watching the world change around us can be an uncomfortable endeavor, and Robert’s ever-present longing for the mundane is poetic. This is the story of a haunted man living through the realities of what being human is, and the utter heartbreak that it can carry.
Glen: Edgerton is remarkable in the role. He’s in nearly every scene, and many scenes are him alone with no dialogue, so it’s acting and communication through facial expression and body language. I think the genius of the story is it’s a portrait of a nobody—a man of no importance who accomplished no grand feat or left any kind of a mark on the world, yet he lived a full and remarkably deep life. Robert had a quiet nobility. He was haunted by an injustice he took part in, and that never left him. His was a life marked by profound beauty and terrible tragedy, and he carried on.
Anna: I think that’s what makes stories like this so appealing—it’s the everyday moments that make life great, that lead to sorrow, that shape who we are and therefore how we move throughout this world. Robert is introspective and humble, and a man whose world is small, but who feels the weight of things and stumbles on even in the darkest of days. The story is mundane, simple, and in the end about the love that endures through all the seasons of our lives. To live a simple, beautiful life doesn’t mean to live a life without pain.
New Times Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.