CANNES - A superb re-make of
Patrick Leconte’s 2002 film, Man on
the Train is a scrumptiously
literate character drama. Starring
Donald Sutherland and
U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.,
this well-crafted entertainment’s appeal
will be to a mature, intelligent
demographic.
In this re-incarnation, Sutherland
stars as a retired literature professor,
who, in his own parlance, seems cut out
of the mold of J. Alfred Prufrock.
Throughout his cautious life, he’s been
a man who did not “dare to eat a peach.”
Refined and restrained, he lives alone
in the posh home his mother left him.
Amid his books and protected by his
reserve, he is, as Eliot’s poem goes,
“full of high sentence, but a bit
obtuse.”
The stale professor, however, is
stirred by a chance meeting with his
psychological and professional opposite,
a laconic criminal (Mullen) who rides
into town on a train. This mystery man
is in cahoots to rob the local bank, the
very day that the Professor is to have
heart surgery. Opposites do attract in
this witty character study as the
Professor takes in the itinerant to stay
a few days in his comfy manse.
Their polar differences spark a
friendship: Each learns from the other’s
point-of-view and way-of-life. Under
Mary McGuckian’s perceptive hand, we’re
treated to an unlikely personal bonding
of two divergent personalities.
Man on the Trainis a ripe
illumination, buoyed by the sterling
lead performances of Sutherland and
Mullen. Sutherland lays out the rich
inner life of a man who holds
disappointment for the cautious
existence he has maintained. Wondrously,
the uneducated blunt stranger’s probes
and blunt observations jolt the
professor from his self-constraining
views. From this uneducated bloke, he
becomes aware that, in his own way, he
has led a rich life, albeit manifested
by his inner being.
In exchange, the detached professor
enriches the straightforward criminal to
an alternate appreciation of life, as
well.
Cinematographer Stefan von Bjorn’s
silken hues and production designer
Jennifer Carroll’s vibrant furnishings
are precisely right for this full-bodied
film.
Venue: Cannes Film Festival
Based on the 2002 Patrick Leconte film
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Larry
Mullen, Jr., Paula Boudreau, Graham
Greene, Kate O’Toole, Greg Byrk, Samuel
Jephcott
Director:
Mary McGuckian
