Train Dreams Movie Review

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Set in the Pacific Northwest, especially the Idaho Panhandle, in the early 20th Century, this film archives the history of the nomad working on the railroad in the name of westward expansion.

Based on the novella, “The Life of Chuck,” by Denis Johnson, which is beautifully narrated by Will Patton (No Way Out), “Train Dreams” is about Robert Grainier, played by Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty), a logger helping to rid the world of the pesky trees in the name of progress. He and other men hired by the railroad work for months at a time before they go back home, some to family they love and who miss them dearly. They worked to clear the forest, making it possible for trains to move people more easily from one side of the country to the other. Robert makes friends along his journey and eventually meets the love of his life, Gladys (Felicity Jones). They fall in love and get married rather quickly. It isn’t long after he builds them a home that they welcome a daughter into the world. Sadly, duties call, and he often leaves her alone with the child, alone with her thoughts. What is on her mind, he wonders.

One of the most fascinating characters he befriends along the way is Arn Peeples superbly played by William H. Macy, who can do no wrong in my book, making that statement true here as he did in the series “Shameless” and the film “Boogie Nights.” Arn puts a bug in the ears of all who have a set, letting them know of their responsibilities to the earth they inhabit. Writer/Director Clint Bentley, with co-writer Greg Kwedar, ingeniously passes a message along to you through Arn. He speaks to them of deforestation, realizing that the path they’re taking, hardly a thought at the time, is injuring their mother. He leaves some wisdom for the fellas to chew on: that a lot of the world is finite, and this gets to Robert. He has seen significant growth and change. Is it all for the best? Leaving Arn and hoping to talk to him about it again, he doesn’t get the chance. Time takes him away. Going back home changes things for him again, as upon returning, a fire consumed what was the beautiful home he had built. Gladys and his child Kate are now gone, as are all the people he meets along the way.

Adolpho Veloso, the cinematographer who worked on another project with director Clint Bentley, “Jockey,” creates for the audience the illusion that, within the gorgeous forest Robert surrounds himself with, there’s something better than what he has always known. But is there? Where is he? He watches the murder of Fu Sheng, a Chinese immigrant, and regrets doing nothing to help him. After, the man is always available to speak to when needed. These scenes leave you questioning whether he has ever been there. Is Robert there, or has he left somewhere along the way?

In the end, Robert thinks the world is how he sees it, but before he departs for good, he gets to see it from a train… and from an airplane. As he saw the immigrant, he sees his daughter… or did he? Did she ever exist? Did he?