Movie Review: Train Dreams (2025)

[Dave Gray]

I haven't seen this film yet, but Downunder Dolfan asked me about it privately and wanted to do a review, so I set up a poll for him.

Coincidentally, I had decided this morning to watch this film because it's been getting some buzz and it won the Golden Globe for cinematography, so I figured in my quest to watch every movie nominated for an Oscar, that the odds were pretty high that this would get a nomination, so I wanted to get ahead of it.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Train Dreams (2025)

Premise: A look at the humble life of 80-year-old of Woodsman Robert Grainier, set mainly during the building of the Great Northern Railway.

Rating: Exceptional.

This is the best Hollywood movie I have seen for some years, with superb acting and cinematography built around a relatively simple original story, the life of a relatively unremarkable mountain man from his viewpoint (which happens to have some extraordinary personal events that shape it).

This is not a fast-paced action movie, yet it never seems to drift too long to make the mind wander away from it. Some characters that you feel may be set up for something important later on come and go, but then that's what happens in your own life, so it's part of the picture. The events of last few years seem to jump by too quickly on the surface, but again, that's just a reflection on what you experience in real life. The themes of honor, friendship, genuine happiness and love, loss, guilt, are universal and timeless.

I wish they had shot this on real film instead of digital (apparently the tight schedule and remote locations made this impractical), but the cinematography is still absolutely stunning, and like the acting and direction, it shows a level of care and attention to detail that's sadly becoming a rarity. The award nominations are thoroughly deserved.

Ps. My thanks to Dave for starting this thread and poll.

[Phishfan]

One that I will eventually check out. Most of the movies have not been grabbing me lately but I have heard good things about this one.