STORYLINE: Based on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly-changing America of the early 20th Century. (IMDb)

   Westerns have a tradition of being films about tough guys, typically cowboys, and will feature shootouts  (True Grit 1969/2010, Tombstone 1993).  There are films that will buck that tradition, such as Mel Brooks’ comedy Blazing Saddles (1974), the romance Brokeback Mountain (2005), and the family friendly Rango (2011).  Train Dreams is a western without the classic cowboys and shootouts, but instead is an intimate western drama.

    Train Dreams is not a fast paced, action packed western. Nor is it a sprawling epic like Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 (2024).  Train Dreams is slow paced, intimate  drama, with a straight forward story told over many years.  

   The story showcases how one man’s life changes over time.  In addition to being a character study, Train Dreams, shows how America changes over the course of fifty years. The west, featured in the film, wasn’t wild at the start, nor did it end there.  The transition the west west through was an interesting backdrop for the film.

    Joel Edgerton is an actor with many talents. He has appeared in family friendly dramas such as The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) and powerful dramas, such as Loving (2016).  Not just a variety of dramas fill his filmography but horror films such as the 2017 feature It Comes at Night and the suspenseful Master Gardener (2023).  All feature great performances from the actor. In Train Dreams, he adds another impressive performance tp that resume.  After all he is the heartbeat of this moving western.

    Train Dreams is not the typical tough guy western.  Instead it is a moving portrait of one man’s journey through the changing American landscape.

   Until next time I will see you at the movies!