Must watch: Movie "The Girl on the Train"

Another reminder that what seems like a safe path in Hollywood can all too often end up as a detour.

Nov 28, 2023 - 16:05
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Must watch: Movie "The Girl on the Train"

The lack of originality in contemporary Hollywood is reflected in many ways. One of them is the practice of directors of major studios who, encouraged by the success of a film made by a rival studio, decide to make their own version. 

The film's title character is Rebecca Watson (Blunt), a woman who, during routine train trips to and from the city, has a habit of observing the house in the suburbs where a young married couple lives. Scott (Evans) and Megan Hipwell (Bennet) - whose life she considers perfect. This idyllic image is shattered when he sees Megan kissing another man, and even more when she learns that Megan has disappeared, becoming the subject of a police investigation. Rebecca's attempt to inform the police about everything, as a good citizen, causes problems, due to some details that question her credibility and motives.

The Hipwells, namely, live in the immediate neighborhood of Rebecca's ex-husband Tom (Theroux) and his new wife Anna Boyd (Ferguson), and Rebecca herself has a serious problem with alcohol, which is reflected in unpredictable and sometimes violent behavior, but also in twilight states after which she doesn't remember anything. Rebecca decides to start the investigation herself, trying to find out what really happened to Megan and whether she might be responsible for it.

"The Girl on the Train" seemed like a great thing to the heads not only because it is a literary bestseller, but also in many elements similar to Missing, the crime novel by Gillian Flynn responsible for a fairly successful film by David Fincher. 

The similarities primarily refer to the fact that the plot is about the investigation of a woman who has disappeared, as well as that different perspectives and various dramatic twists can be expected when solving this mystery. During the screen adaptation, however, the most important thing was forgotten - Gillian Flynn's screenplay firmly anchored Missing to the plot and location. He spiced up the basic criminal plot with intelligent observations about today's economy and culture. In contrast, the screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson moves the action from London to New York without any special need and reduces it to a rather simple and disappointingly predictable detective story that a less pretentious author could comfortably cram into a 30-minute episode. And viewers will be able to solve the mystery itself long before the end, even without any special detective skills; it is enough to recall the "politically correct" norms of today's Hollywood, that is, the unwritten rules according to which villains may belong to specific ethnic, racial and gender groups.

What could make "The Girl on the Train" interesting is first of all its slightly unconventional structure, and the fact that the events are shown in flashbacks, but also from the perspective of the three main female characters. It's an opportunity for three quite different, but recently quite exposed actresses to show their talent, and it was mostly used. Rebecca Ferguson is interesting as a former adulteress transformed into a self-sacrificing wife and mother, and young Haley Bennett is impressive as a promiscuous woman hiding a dark secret from her past. The most impressive, however, is Emily Blunt, whose role as the alcohol-soaked wreck Rebecca is probably the most unpleasant character she has ever played in her career, but she does her job so well that we can't take our eyes off her. Unfortunately, even that is not enough to make up for the serious problems in the melodramatic and unconvincing screenplay, including a final scene that, will make a large portion of the audience laugh. Unlike its role model, "The Girl on the Train" failed with critics and can serve as another argument that what looks like a safe path in Hollywood too often ends up as a detour.

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Post By: Vanessa F.