From the mind of Henry Jaglom and the acting genius of Dennis Hopper comes a very interesting character study of a Vietnam vet returning home by train, psychologically in thousands of pieces, only because the war is officially over. A news broadcast by President Nixon lets us know that. What is weird is that the music reflects World War II (young Sinatra, Dinah Shore, a version of "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree") which really doesn't add any insight into what's going on in Hopper's mind. He's got troubles with women, picked up by a younger woman who runs out just as things are getting heavy, and ultimately gets with a more mature woman not afraid of going all the way, yet still continues to have fantasies about the younger one. Or are they fantasies?
It's through the genius of Hopper (with an interesting supporting performance by Dean Stockwell as an overly friendly fellow passager who latches onto Hopper and never goes away) that this remains viewable because not much happens other than a series of enlightening conversations. At one point, Hopper seems to be witnessing a bunch of passengers raping a female passenger, then the vision changes it to her enjoying it, then the participants simply are there sitting and conversing, so the idea that Hopper had of shooting the supposed rapists disappears as well. There's lots of moments like that which makes it appear like something is about to happen but then nothing does. I guess that's the point that the mind plays major tricks like this when someone is suffering in silence. A weird experience to say the least, made up of moments that don't really create a film that comes full circle.
It's through the genius of Hopper (with an interesting supporting performance by Dean Stockwell as an overly friendly fellow passager who latches onto Hopper and never goes away) that this remains viewable because not much happens other than a series of enlightening conversations. At one point, Hopper seems to be witnessing a bunch of passengers raping a female passenger, then the vision changes it to her enjoying it, then the participants simply are there sitting and conversing, so the idea that Hopper had of shooting the supposed rapists disappears as well. There's lots of moments like that which makes it appear like something is about to happen but then nothing does. I guess that's the point that the mind plays major tricks like this when someone is suffering in silence. A weird experience to say the least, made up of moments that don't really create a film that comes full circle.