When it comes to book to movie adaptations, fans of the book will either love or hate it. There's no getting around that. There is also no getting around the fact that the entire book cannot be adapted. There will always be parts that will won't make the final cut of the film; sometimes, those can be something inconsequential and some are ones that we love. I've always stuck with the standard that as long as the adaptation stays true to the source material, I won't be too harsh of a judge. With that said, let's look into The Girl on the Train.
The Girl on the Train tells the story of Rachel (Emily Blunt), an unemployed, vodka-drenched, emotionally wrecked woman. Rachel maintains a routine by commuting to the city from her New York suburb. Rachel's favorite hobby is playing audience to her old life - particularly her ex-husband, Tom (Justin Theroux) living in her ex-home with the ex-mistress-turned-wife, Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), who is also now the mother of his child. Rachel also looks to the neighbors two doors down: a "perfect couple" (Haley Bennett and Luke Evans) where she imagines how their life is. But when the "perfect wife" disappears, Rachel becomes entangled in the missing persons case as the possible main suspect.
Rachel's obsession with her neighbors comes from the careless glow of love that they have. The couple seems to live in their own bubble, not bothered by anything else in the outside world. They provide relief for Rachel and seemingly fills the bleakness in her life. When she sees the wife, Megan, betray her husband by kissing another man, this betrayal seems to mirror the one she went through personally and enrages her. From this event, we not only get Rachel's perspective but we also get Bennett's beautiful fragile, Megan, and Anna. While not sticking to the physical appearance of her literary counterpart, Emily Blunt definitely captured the despair of the main character. Blunt played the depressed ex-wife to perfection. Blunt's Rachel looked haunted and hollowed out by how her life has turned out. Instead of working, any semblance of a job gone, she fills her time with hobbies such as sketching in her notebook, finding solace at the bottom of a bottle, and of course, riding the train.
The breakout star was definitely Haley Bennett. She might be breakout star of the fall with this film and The Magnificent Seven (which a review will be coming!). Bennett plays the stunningly beautiful Megan with depth, showing her character to be three-dimensional and on the edge of her own oblivion with the secrets she hides.
Director Tate Taylor (The Help) doesn't bring the type of style and dazzle that you would expect with a thriller like this, which drew earlier comparisons to David Fincher's Gone Girl and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But he did a great job translating the bleak menace of the film and balancing three intertwined plotlines and having them all pay off in the third act of the film. What really sells the film is the chilling realism of these two performances, especially Blunt's, carry this film. Personally, I liked the novel better than the film but overall, it is a solid movie. It is definitely geared towards women but a fan of the book, no matter the gender, will enjoy this film.
If you all see this film, leave a comment about what you think. I'm catching up on this blog so there will be more reviews, previews, and news to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment