Just saw this film last night at a screening. I was neither cast nor crew, just a friend of a friend with no biases. I didn't know quite what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. It's an emotional film -- not always pretty -- with characters so believable that I empathized with their problems immediately. The set-up is completely original -- suicide by train has become common, but I've never seen a film that's explored how an engineer (or pilot, for that matter) deals with the aftermath of being behind the controls in this situation and feeling culpable. The relationship between Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden is so real, so natural, that I almost felt I was intruding their private world. The entire film rang true for me. Marcia Gay Harden's portrayal of a terminally ill woman wasn't hokey (or yuk, saintlike) but subtle and complex. When she and Bacon's character unofficially "adopt" the suicidal mother's little boy for several days, to satisfy Harden's unfulfilled maternal instinct, the characters motivations and actions totally make sense. I'd see this movie again.
Review of Rails & Ties
