The Quill & The Cross

Summary

Train Dreams follows the life of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker in the early 20th-century west. It gives us a slice of life, chronicling his quiet and solitary life: how he was orphaned at a young age, witnesses the mass deportation of thousands of Chinese people, his job as a logger, his marriage to his wife Gladys, the birth of his daughter Kate. Train Dreams tells his story, from his solitude to his happy marriage, through crushing tragedy and profound joy.

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, William H. Macy, Kerry Condon, Nathaniel Arcand, Will Patton

My Review

My Rating: 5/5

My Recommended Age: 15+

Things To Be Aware Of

Violence: 2/5 (A man is dragged across a bridge and falls to his death. A massive log tumbles down a hill and we hear screaming men and briefly see the writhing horses. A man is shot in the back and we see him fall from a distance. Robert helps a fallen man who had some sort of accident. A tree branch falls on a man, leaving him with blood on his face, and he dies a few days later. Robert has to splint someone’s broken leg. There are continued flashbacks of a house on fire.)

Sexual Content: 3/5 (Robert and his wife wake up in bed together. We see them in bed one night for a brief scene, and although it’s not explicit, we see them from the shoulders up. Robert is without a shirt a couple times.)

Language: 1/5 (One s-word and one use of d**m.)

Other Negative Content: 1/5 (There is some brief violence rooted in racism. We see Robert get sick and vomit.)

My Take

Honestly? Train Dreams is the most gorgeous movie I’ve seen all year. It doesn’t jump off the screen at you, it’s slow-moving, and it doesn’t boast any epic action sequences. But it shows us one little slice of life as it tells the story of Robert Grainier. The people he meets, the people he loves, his deep connection with nature, and all of his sorrow and joy. His character is so captivating: he’s quiet, shy, and prefers to hide from a crowd. But all that is why the movie is so beautiful. It just shows us life. With all the ups and downs.

Not to mention the look of the movie itself is gorgeous. Instead of a typical widescreen, it’s a square, giving it an old-fashioned look. There’s dozens of beautiful shots of nature, and the entire movie feels poetical-it’s breathtaking.

There are a few scenes with Robert and his wife that earned the PG-13 rating, but they’re not explicit and it wasn’t in your face like it often is. It fits with the movie: it’s telling his life, and that is one of the beautiful moments of his life. (They’re easy to skip, too.)

Train Dreams feels so simplistic, and you’d think it’d be boring or slow, but it’s so gorgeous. Robert Grainier is just an ordinary man, but it makes his story feel extraordinary. His experience as a logger, his marriage, his baby girl, his experience with tragedy: we feel it all so poignantly. If you’re looking for a quiet, beautiful, often profound story, Train Dreams is perfect for you.

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? All of it.