‘Train Dreams’ Review

With its elegiac narration, slow zooms, and meditations on the personalities and tragedies that ushered the United States into modernity, ‘Train Dreams’ often feels like a live action Ken Burns film in the best way possible.

Regrettably suffering from bouts of monotony, given the lack of variety in the viewing experience, ‘Train Dreams’ alternates between beautiful and sad, sad and beautiful, with extraordinary cinematography and quiet performances that keep the blunt philosophizing as grounded as they can.

Joel Edgerton stars as Robert Grainier, a seasonal laborer in early 20th century Idaho. After marrying Gladys (Felicity Jones) and having a daughter, Grainier continues to leave home for better paying jobs that require him to be away for weeks at a time, primarily logging but also, importantly, on railroads. As Grainier witnesses deaths on the job, sometimes natural sometimes very much not, he is haunted by dreams of those who died and worries that it’s only a matter of time before tragedy falls upon him. Grainier is a stand-in for the nameless, faceless people who contributed in their way to the building of modern America, surviving in a time when the law was more aspirational than practical and the fragility of life was all too obvious.

The works of Terrence Malick serve as an obvious influence for director Clint Bentley and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso, resulting in some of the most gorgeous photography of the year. A reliance on natural light, especially at Golden Hour, underscores the natural splendor of the country, as if nothing humanity has contributed could possibly improve on Earth’s unblemished grandeur. While much of the film is shot with deep focus wide shots to capture each character in their surroundings, largely unsullied by modernity, Veloso opts for handheld when shooting Grainier and his family to better capture the intimacy between these characters, not missing any organic interactions, the happy little accidents that occur when performers improv in space.

While ‘Train Dreams’ focuses its narrative on Grainier, philosophical questions are posed throughout by a variety of characters with the obvious intention of echoing modern day dilemmas. As Grainier works among his fellow loggers, they all gather around the fire at night to discuss the morality of exploiting the Earth for all of its natural resources, and whether the Earth will truly always be there to provide. Later on, as Grainier gets older in an industry that seems to cherish youth, he turns to an older man and asks whether the job has gotten rougher, or if he was just rougher when he was younger and forgotten, affirming that every generation believes the one that comes after is a little more careless, a little more dangerous.

As ‘Train Dreams’ ends, it nicely ties together everything that came before in ways that elevate the thematic messaging. While striving to tell the story of America, ‘Train Dreams’ also functions perfectly at capturing the fleeting, transient moments that come together as a whole to make up a person’s life. People come and go, some stay for years while others disappear almost as quickly as they arrive, but they all leave an indelible mark on one man’s search for meaning in a country still trying to find itself.

Train Dreams
Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexuality.
Running Time: 1 hour and 42 minutes

Director Clint Bentley
Writers Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
Stars Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Clifton Collins Jr, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy
Rating PG-13
Running Time 102 Minutes
Genres Drama