PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Train your dreams, lest they stray too far.
Synopsis
Taking place in the early-1900’s, Train Dreams follows Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a man who makes a living by working jobs as a logger and on railroad construction sites. He lives a modest life with his wife, Gladys (Felicity Jones), and their infant daughter, and over the next three decades, Robert’s life is depicted in all its beauty and tragedy, forming deep human connections along the way.
My thoughts
Directed by Clint Bentley, who co-wrote the screenplay with Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams is based off Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name. Kwedar directed and co-wrote Sing Sing with Bentley, one of the best films of 2024 that was insultingly underrepresented at least year’s Academy Awards. With this creative team at the helm, it came as no surprise to me that their next project was a work just as heartfelt, empathetic, and honest without a drop of cynicism. At least they got a Best Picture nomination this time
One word I can best use to describe Train Dreams is “beauty”. Not beautiful, although this is one beautiful film, but simply “beauty” in all its forms. It’s about finding beauty in life, death, creation, destruction, the passage of time, the end of time; in general, all things in life, no matter how big, small, positive, or negative, there’s a beauty to be found somewhere if you search hard enough. It’s a good message for all of us to take in, especially our protagonist Robert Grainier.
Connecting the world one rail at a time
We often talk about the rich and powerful men who “built America”, but who really built America? The millions of men, women, and children, who now may be nameless to history, but had their own names, lives, husband, wives, children, and friends. They were real people who lived real lives and while some may deem them insignificant, their lives had a deeper meaning to themselves than any of us will ever be able to truly comprehend.
Robert Grainier isn’t a real person who existed, nor is his character based on anybody in particular. He did exist in a way, though. Those millions of “nameless” people who built not just America, but the entire world, are all Robert Grainier. People we may not remember or even know about, but we feel their impact every day, decades, or millennia later. Considering how much so many of us are concerned with building a legacy, Bentley and Kwedar offer a form of solace with Train Dreams in that just because you may not be remembered doesn’t mean you didn’t matter.
The seasonal jobs that take Robert all over the country give him the opportunities to meet folks from all different walks of life. Some of them he forms a close relationship with over a long period of time and some he knows for only a day, but they all have some sort of significant impact on him. While it may seem to some of us our lives may not have amounted to much, it’s the emotional connections we’ve made that creates the beauty of the human experience.
Some of these characters don’t even need to speak to have an effect on Robert, such as Fu Sheng (Alfred Hsing), a Chinese immigrant worker murdered on one of their railway jobs. Robert carries immense guilt and grief over Fu Sheng’s death, frequently imagining him or dreaming about him sitting there and staring right into his soul. The trains that run on the railways also haunt Robert’s dreams, turning them into nightmares as he finds himself on a pitch-black track with a screaming locomotive coming right at him.
Snapshots of a lifetime
Train Dreams doesn’t follow a traditional narrative, operating at a more meditative, unstructured pace with vignettes guiding us through Robert’s life. He doesn’t find himself tangled up in a larger plot or story greater than him; it’s simply a story about one man’s life. Will Patton’s delicate voice narrates the events and despite the fragmented nature of the storytelling, there still exists a clear dramatic throughline. It oddly reminded me of A Christmas Story, just far more melancholic, especially when accompanied by Bryce Dessner’s pensive musical score.
As I mentioned above, Train Dreams is beautifully photographed. It took me a few minutes to get used to the shutter speed Bentley and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso were shooting with, but once I settled in, I realized it was the perfect visual aesthetic for the film. It’s incredibly evocative of the early days of film with the hand cranked cameras making the people appear as if they’re moving in fast motion. Veloso doesn’t push it too far, though, striking a fine visual balance of modern and antiquated; like 100-year-old photographs coming to life.
This is one of those movies that makes you feel like you’re one with nature, featuring breathtaking shots of Northwestern American vistas. Bentley and Veloso always make sure we get a good sense of just how massive these trees are, making us feel small in the grand scheme of things as the loggers navigate and cut down these dense forests. The enormity is really captured when we get shots of a tree falling with the camera mounted on the trunk, conceptualizing in near first person what it’s like to see thousands of years of history come to an end right before your very eyes.
Once lost, now found
I’m amazed that Joel Edgerton didn’t walk away from Train Dreams with an Oscar nomination because his performance absolutely made my heart hurt. His work was cut out for him too, as Robert spends much of the movie wandering alone in the forest, pondering life. While Patton’s narration clearly explains what’s going on, it’s Edgerton’s stirring performance that really sells it. So much pain, grief, and yearning communicated through the simplest facial expressions and body language. Edgerton shows a total command of the craft that makes it my second favorite male performance of 2025, right after Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine, who was also criminally snubbed.
The supporting cast is downright incredible that I’m surprised this didn’t get a Best Casting nomination at the Oscars. Felicity Jones, Nathaniel Arcand, John Diehl, Paul Schneider, and Clifton Collins Jr. are all fantastic in their supporting roles. In the same way the characters leave a huge impression on Robert in such a short amount of time, the same goes for the audience as we grow to like these people so much that we don’t want to see them leave. The entire world is richly steeped in detail, almost as if we’re traveling back in time and experiencing it alongside the people who lived it.
William H. Macy was the standout of the supporting players, portraying Arn Peeples, a man with endless wisdom and cultural experience that he’s acquired over his many years on Earth. Macy’s portrayal vividly reminds us of all the old people we’ve encountered in our lives who have never met a stranger. Someone you can just sit and listen to for hours as they recount life story after life story. The always lovely Kerry Condon brought some much needed warmth to the more dour second half of the film, her scene with Edgerton in the fire tower overlooking the forest absolutely magnificent.
Final verdict
With Sing Sing, and now Train Dreams, Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar have fully established themselves as confident cinematic voices that aren’t afraid to cast cynicism aside for more earnest, sensitive storytelling. Focusing thematically on not letting your tragedy define you, never letting go of hope, and finding healing in the most unexpected places, they express their stories through a distinct lens that gives audiences a unique perspective that many other filmmakers would struggle to achieve.
Train Dreams is one of those movies where some will watch it, be bored by it, and say, “Well, nothing happened. It was just about some guy’s life. Who cares?” That would be just like someone writing off your own life story because “nothing happens”, when from your point of view, everything is happening. We get movies about characters trying to reach a goal or achieve some sort of greatness all the time. What’s so wrong with one simply examining a regular person going through the ups and downs of life? It’s something we’ve all experienced, after all.
My rating: 9.5/10
Train Dreams is currently streaming on Netflix.
Read my reviews for the other 2025 Best Picture nominees: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, The Secret Agent, Sinners
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