Man on the Train (2003)

The Worst Film Ever

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This was a joy to watch. Sometimes a director and his/her actors are utterly in sync. Here we have the unfolding of two somewhat mysterious characters. One leads a life of violence; the other is living an unfulfilled tedious existence. The man on the train arrives and the kind professor offers him a place to stay. At first they seem to be so far apart in their life stories, one would think they would never connect. As time passes, we find out that neither is happy with his lot. The violent man begins to see the almost monotonous life of the professor as very desirable, while the aged teacher feels that he has never had any adventure. A bank holdup is in the offing and he even asks to be a part of it. The best part of the film is the learning process that takes place as a sort of love develops between them. The old professor is very ill and is going to have surgery, and his relationship with his new friend sustains him, though he is filled with fear. See this for the subdued yet powerful portrayals of the two stellar actors.

Pascal Estève's music makes this film feel like a Western. Small French city, no movement in the streets, and two men meet.Johnny Hallyday, considered the French Elvis, plays Milan, a bank robber, who is bored with his life.Jean Rochefort, nominated for six Césars and winning two (Let Joy Reign Supreme and The Crab-Drum) plays Monsieur Manesquier, a retired French teacher who is thoroughly bored with his life.As the two men converse (mostly Manesquier), it is apparent that they may be suited for each other's lives.As they plan and ponder, one ends up in the hospital and the other does the job. The ending was brilliant, whether real or imagined.Patrice Leconte (Girl on the Bridge, Monsieur Hire, The Hairdresser's Husband, My Best Friend) directs brilliantly as he always does. I have never been disappointed in any of his films.

Homme Du Train (Man from the train) is about two man, one a gangster showing up in a small provincial French town to pull a robbery in its small branch single bank. Surely he arrives a few days prior for planning purposes. Being such a small town, no open hotel (out of season) he find himself guest in a home of a local old retired professor of poetry. The Teacher is lonely and bored, looking for pal to talk and drink with.Two very different types at the beginning are gradually getting closer to discover the qualities and the similarities between them. The story gradually develops to a point where they cross each other path the Gangster becoming a teacher of poetry and literature and the Teacher wishing to become a gangster. It is about faith.. we develop in life to become what we become greatly by faith and not by choice..circumstances change and we change accordingly. Very thoughtfully movie keeping , excellent job by both the actors and the maker of the movie

Bear with me as I take you back to the 1960s. You're a mogul with the power to Green Light a property and I've got 60 seconds to 'pitch' to you. Okay, an Amtrak pulls in to Buffalo Crap, Iowa and Charles Bronson gets off. His eyes, slits in a pillbox at the best of times, narrow even more as he surveys Nowheresville. But even hardmen have headaches so he heads for the drugstore and some Milltown. Already in the drugstore is Mr Milquetoast personified, Edward Everett Horton (this is our Meet-Cute, geddit). Leaving the drugstore they strike up a conversation when Bronson remarks that the druggist sold him a soluble version. No problem, says Horton, my large, rambling family home is right here, be my guest. Bronson is here for a few days to knock over the local bank, Horton has been here a lifetime teaching English prior to his retirement. Conveniently the hotel is closed so Horton invites Bronson to stay as his guest, cue male bonding. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and at heart tough guy Bronson is an English teacher and foppish Horton a bad ass dude. Alas, Hollywood doesn't respond to pitches like that but Hosannahs, France does and here we have Johnny Hallyday teamed with Jean Rochefort in a miniature gem brimming over with delicate 'touches' and top-drawer performances. Patrice Leconte is right amongst the cream of current French Directors and he seldom puts a foot wrong in this terse yet rambling Brief Encounter. One that can stand multiple viewings.