The biggest flop of 2014? Possibly. Jonathan Teplitzky’s (Burning Man, television’s Broadchurch) grossed under $5 million in the theaters but cost $18 million to make. This movie should have been great. But then again, so should have been Unbroken, the underwhelming Angelina Jolie vehicle that showcased the 47-day survival of two men living on a raft after their plane was shot down during World War II only to be held in a prisoner of war camp. This movie did just fine at the box office (doubling its budget costs), but it still did not come close to expectations. The Railway Man had lesser expectations than Unbroken, but it did have a better cast and weaker competition at the time of its release. A 66% on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t bad, but usually, you want to see a slightly higher (at minimum) for a true story-based historical drama. I am uncertain of why I watched this film. I had convinced myself I was not going to. But it showed up on my Showtime OnDemand list one day when I was trying to find a movie to watch and decided to give it a chance. I’m glad I did. It is certainly not a great movie but is better than expected. It is a much more complete film than was Unbroken.

Fresh off Academy Award nominations in back-to-back wins (including a win for 2010’s The King Speech), Colin Firth (A Single Man, Devil’s Knot) had the pick of the litter when it came to his next handful of movies. But much like Jamie Foxx (who had an Academy Award win in 2005 for Ray and an Academy Award nomination for Collateral), Firth has made some poor choices when it comes to selecting his roles. Let’s take 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy out of the equation since it likely completed filming well after Firth had picked up his Oscar for The King’s Speech. I hadn’t even heard of such gems as Arthur Newman, Main Street, Before I Go to Sleep, or Magic in the Moonlight. Devil’s Knot was a complete disaster, and while there has been an audience for Kingsman: The Secret Service, I don’t know if it was aided by having Firth in the film. And when people look back on the period from 2011-2014, they will wonder what Firth had been doing.

With all of that said, The Railway Man was an excellent choice for him. He was very, very good in the role of a former tortured prisoner of war who tries his best to battle the demons in his head and move forward with his life. Forty years later, and former POW Eric Lomax (Firth) has had trouble moving on in his life. He has remained friends with Finlay (Stellan Skarsgård), who served in Thailand during World War II. The two hang out together at the local Veteran’s Club.

Though we do not know all that has happened in the last 40 years, we know that it has not been pleasant for Eric. However, after all of these years, his life is about to change for better and for worse. This is where the conflict of our story stems from. Eric meets Patti (Nicole Kidman – The Hours, The Others) on a chance circumstance while the two are riding a train in Scotland. They get along famously, and it is evident that Eric has quickly and decisively fallen in love. Before we know it, they are dating. And while we do not know at this time how life has been for Eric before meeting Patti, we can tell that meeting Patti is maybe the most significant thing that has ever happened to him. As time passes, Eric spends more time with Patti and less time at the Veteran’s Club. Eric starts telling Patti about the war. I’m not entirely sure why Patti seems so flabbergasted about some of the things he tells her. It’s almost as if it’s a teacher explaining something to a classroom of young children for the first time. But I won’t over-analyze this part of it. I think the idea was to show that, even though it has been 40 years, the images of war are still fresh in his mind.

The back and forth between the present time and the flashbacks transition perfectly. First, in the present day, Eric learns that Nagase has been discovered. Then, finally, Eric has the opportunity to come face to face with his torturer, something that he has probably have been dreaming of for the last 40 years. But he’s torn now that he’s with Patti. And he wears the emotions on his face. Part of him wants to pay Nagase back for everything he’s done for him…for basically showing him how ugly the world can be. But now he has Patti, and she has shown him how beautiful the world can be. So Eric is forced to deeply examine his moral compass and determine if he can forgive and forget or if the events that he was forced to experience were too traumatic to overcome.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 8/10
Character Chemistry 7/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 8/10
Universal Relevance 8/10
81.5%