So by the grace of God, Hurricane Matthew missed us here in good old Palm Beach County. Well. I mean it hit us but we didn’t have any horrible damage. We were so ok that I was able to go see a movie the next day. With that being said, here’s your regularly scheduled movie review.
Story: The story of the Girl on the Train follows a woman who gets involved in the disappearance of another woman while being obsessed with her ex-husband and his new wife. As the movie progresses, we find out more about the three featured women (she’s an alcoholic, she’s an adulterer, she killed her own baby, etc…) and it’s mostly told through flashbacks. Overall the story is kinda dull for the first two thirds of the movie but manages to pull itself together in the final third to redeem itself.
Acting: Overall, the acting here is average. Not bad but not good as well. Emily Blunt is pretty good at times but elsewhere is just confusing. It’s like they wrote the script with a certain group of actors and actresses in mind and then found out that they couldn’t get them and settled with the B-Team. Oh well. That’s Hollywood.
Presentation: The movie looks good and sounds good. Noting spectacular but fits the mood throughout. That’s all I’ve got.
Effect: From the trailers, this movie seemed like it was shooting to be the next Gone Girl, however this is not the case. When I watched Gone Girl, I was constantly thinking about what really happened, why Ben “Batman” Affleck was being set up, and what would happen to him. With Girl on the Train, I was just watching the movie. Until probably the last 20 minutes, I wasn’t really thinking about anything. It’s like you had a nice ice cold Coke (that’s Gone Girl) and then someone tells you to try some of this generic brand cola knock-off (that’s Girl on the Train).
Other: Here’s my gripe with the film. Much of the exposition is told through flashbacks and many of them are preceded by a “6 months ago” card, yet not every flashback has this. Some of them just happen and it’s up to you to realize that “oh no we’ve actually gone back in time and….oh wait now we’re back in the present.” It’s annoying and I’m taking major points away for it.
So my concluding thoughts? Gone Girl this is not. Is this a bad movie? No. Is it a great movie? No. It’s just a movie.
Story: 7
Acting: 6
Presentation: 7
Effect: 6
Other: 5
Score: 6.2
No Duty to Watch 