The Railway Man
2013
**
Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Cast: Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgård, Sam Reid, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tanroh Ishida, Micheal Doonan
Eric Lomax, a self-confessed train enthusiast, meets his future wife Patty on the train. Their happiness seems short-lived when Eric's painful memories from his time as a prisoner of war come back to haunt him. Will he be able to deal with his past or open up to his wife? This real life horror story sheds light on a harrowing period of history, it features a wonderful international cast, and it is based on Lomax's award winning 1995 book. And yet, it just doesn't work as a drama. The flashback structure jumps between the 1980s and the 1940s, and the two timelines seem to decrease each other's impact. Everything is capped off with a dignified but underwhelming ending.
