Back Rowe Reviews
Real Time Movie Reviews from the Back Row of a Theater

The Railway Man (R)

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Directed by: Jonathan Teplitzky
Starring: Colin Firth
April 2014

This review was originally tweeted in Real-time from the back row of a movie theater and appears @BackRoweReviews. Though efforts were made to tease rather than ruin this movie’s memorable lines and moments, some spoilers may exist in the following evaluation. The original tweets appear in black, while follow-up comments appear in red. For concerns over objectionable content, please first refer to one of the many parental movie guide websites. All ratings are based on a four star system. Happy reading!

The Railway Man

A meet-cute on a train...one of Hollywood’s oldest romance movie tropes.

I would get rid of my mustache in three seconds flat with that kind of offer.

Kidman challenges the “code of silence.”
Amazing how men can get together and talk about anything under the sun except for what’s troubling them.

Clever makeshift radio.
MacGyver would be proud.

Kidman’s “interference” has dire consequences.
But Firth’s callous remark is far more shocking than the preceding incident.

“You will be killed shortly.” Blood doesn’t flow any colder than that.
That line actually seems like it belongs in an action movie, not a historical drama.

“No one would believe what you did to us.”
The atrocities of war are unfathomable to all but those who willfully choose to perpetrate its evil acts.

I’ve never seen a more meaningful bow. Tearing up.

Final analysis: a deeply moving tale of the devastating effects of war...

...and the miracle of racial reconciliation.

Firth and Kidman are simply masterful in their roles.
As would be expected. Let’s see if Oscar nods in their direction.

Rating:
3 1/2 out of 4 stars. Not an easy movie to negotiate emotionally, but well worth watching.

As is indicated by the title, railways and trains play a pivotal role in the movie’s plot. It’s fitting, then, that director Jonathan Teplitzky and his film crew should so elegantly isolate images of trains, tracks and bridges from different countries (England and Japan) and different time periods (the WWII 1940s and the film’s 1980 milieu). The train track motif works on an aesthetic level as well as a symbolic one. Ironically, other than the opening meet-cute and closing restorative encounter, every other instance involving a train or its tracks in the film results in the occurrence of something unpleasant, sometimes even tragic. The overcast sky and seething ocean are also an effective metaphor for the inner turmoil Firth’s character is made to endure. These artistic and canny directorial choices populate a movie rich in visual splendor and narrative complexity. With the exception of the protracted torture scenes (you’ve seen worse on 24), there isn’t anything objectionable in the movie, making the R rating a bit curious…other than the fact that the majority of Best Picture winners share that rating. Though it’s far too early to predict with any accuracy, the film seems well positioned to make a run at Oscar’s top prize. Firth and Kidman also seem poised to garner nominations for their roles here which have, yet again, redefined the measure of a tour de force performance. Some might find the movie a bit ponderous in the plot department, which is a shame. However, if you can hang in there to the end, you’ll experience one of the finest emotional payoffs to have graced the cinema in recent years. Pacing issues notwithstanding, this is a nearly flawless film with powerhouse performances and a harrowing historical account that won’t soon be forgotten.