"Train Dreams, Clint Bentley's glorious rendering of Denis Johnson's elliptical novella borders on visual poetry as it profoundly observes one man's existence. It's a transcendent experience that echoes the best elements of Terrence Malick's films, particularly in how a wandering camera caresses and gazes at the awesomeness, and danger, of nature. But Train Dreams never gets manacled by arc creative pretensions, resisting the urge to surrender to opaqueness (which doesn't always happen in Malick's films)."
"Narrated with a comforting intonation by actor Will Patton that you want to wrap your arms around, Dreams' journeys through the life of 20th-century Pacific Northwest logger and day laborer Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) as he engages in his taciturn fashion with people who matter to him; a devoted lover (Felicity Jones), a precocious young daughter, a quotable coworker (William H. Macy) with a philosophical bent"
"Johnson's book and Bentley's film are reflective odes to the contributions made by a quiet and ordinary person, someone overlooked by history books. The kind of man who in today's celebrity-obsessed culture would be dismissed as unremarkable. But he matters. This hard worker and decent guy goes through life without getting an award, a statue, a commendation, yet plays an essential part in making America a better place."
Train Dreams renders Denis Johnson's elliptical novella into a visually poetic film that watches one man's life with quiet reverence. Joel Edgerton portrays Robert Grainier, a taciturn early-20th-century Pacific Northwest logger and day laborer whose relationships—his devoted lover, precocious daughter, and philosophical coworker—shape a life of steady contribution. Will Patton's comforting narration guides the story through grief, isolation, and small epiphanies sparked by other resilient characters. The film balances awe and danger in nature with restrained storytelling, honoring ordinary labor without sentimentalizing it. Visual composition and sensitive performances foreground the dignity and unnoticed importance of an uncelebrated life.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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