Arrow In The Head: Training Day

Year: 2016

Director: Tate Taylor

Cast: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson 

Run Time: 1 hour 52 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Read my full review at Arrow in the Head.

Additional Notes: Would you bet a million dollars that the soundtrack and score of The Girl on the Train is packed full of train sound effects? That’s a very safe bet, I can assure you. Just like its soundscape, director Tate Taylor’s first full-blown thriller is a wee bit overwrought. It’s so excited to make choo choo noises that it doesn’t really plumb the obvious metaphor at the center of the story: about women who want to escape their lives and the different things the train represents to them.

A lot of really valuable elements are left by the wayside, which makes the film wind up a little disappointing. And I don’t even want to talk about one scene’s flagrant abuse of the 180 degree line! The cast is solid, even the comedy actors Allison Janney and Lisa Kudrow, who sell their small parts with aplomb. Maybe I should just stop complaining and enjoy it for what it is: a muddled, but enjoyable mystery.

TL:DR: The Girl on the Train is a decent, if befuddled thriller.

Rating: 6/10

Word Count: 1004