Went to see this with my friend at Leeds/Bradford Odeon.
IMDB says: A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.
In this Tate Taylor (The Help, Get on Up) directed film, screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson (Chloe, Secretary) and based on the novel by Paula Hawkins, Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, The Adjustment Bureau) stars as Rachel, an alcoholic who may have seen something bad happen. Every day she takes the train to New York and passes her old house, the one she used to live in with her ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux: American Psycho, Mulholland Drive), that he now lives in with new wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson: Hercules, Florence Foster Jenkins). A couple of houses down is a young seemingly happily married couple Megan (Haley Bennett: Music and Lyrics, Marley and Me) and Scott (Luke Evans: The Raven, Dracula Untold). But when Megan goes missing after Rachel sees her at the house kissing another man, Dr Kamal Abdic (Edgar Ramirez: Joy, Point Break), she feels she needs to tell Scott what she has seen.
I know this is an American film, but it is unfortunate that they changed the location from the book. The novel was set in London and that may have added to the movie for those that read the book, but this was the least of its problems. Although they have excellent actors in Blunt, Theroux, Wilson, Evans etc., the characters seemed a tad one-dimensional. Only Rachel and Megan get a backstory and Anna is so skimmed over that her motivations do not seem believable. Both Megan and Rachel have tragic pasts and more should have been made of this, plus Rachel's sudden insertion into Scott's life without anyone questioning this just did not ring true.
The unreliable narrator has a unique twist compared to something like Gone Girl (which I suspect this movie was trying to be) but sadly I guessed why and who was responsible for Megan's disappearance early on despite never having read the book or being told by anyone who had.
For me, Blunt is wasted in this and though I did enjoy the mystery/thriller aspect of this until it became obvious what the answer was, it was disappointing after all the hype.
Trivia: To date, Paula Hawkins' book is the fastest-selling adult novel in history. Margo Robbie was considered for the role of Megan Hipwell, as was Kate Mara. In the book, Rachel Watson is chubby from being an alcoholic. Emily Blunt was pregnant with her daughter Violet during filming.
Tagline: What did she see? 6.5/10
#GirlOnATrain #EmilyBlunt #JustinTheroux #HaleyBennett #LukeEvans #Odeon
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