The Girl On The Train Reviews Compilation Thread
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afeshs — 9 years ago(October 19, 2016 02:43 PM)
[..]A big part of that enjoyment stems from Emily Blunt's presence, as the actress gives a magnificent performance in The Girl On The Train that arguably ranks as the best of her career to date. Beautiful as Rachel may be, she is an ugly, ugly drunk, and Blunt brings her to life so vividly that the smell of booze practically permeates the screen. She is a complete mess with an aura of pure melancholy, but Blunt keeps her charismatic and fascinating along with the character's evolving arc as Rachel finally finds a purpose in life when actively tr5b4ying to prove her own innocence in the central mystery. Even in the films slower, more obvious moments, Blunt remains utterly compelling and is truly what will keep audiences invested.
http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/1562820/the-girl-on-the-train
Emily Blunt continues to prove her versatility as an actress. She plays tough so well in films like Edge of Tomorrow and Sicario. It's impressive that she can be so wounded here.
http://movieweb.com/girl-on-train-movie-review-2016/
Anchored by a wrenching performance from the brilliantly versatile Emily Blunt, Tate Taylors adaptation of Paula Hawkins best-selling thriller not only keeps you guessing, it makes you care. Blunt throws herself into the role of Rachel, bleary-eyed, ruddy-cheeked, alcoholic mess, mourning her infertility and failed marriage.
http://www.filmjournal.com/reviews/film-review-girl-train
Emily Blunt is nothing short of outstanding in portraying Rachels drink problem, delivering an intensity that never crosses into melodrama or drunken caricature. She can be scary when inebriated, but also endearingly111c lost in her desperation and search for the truth. It feels like an Oscar-worthy performance at times, but shes let down by an overwrought screenplay that turns into a sensationalised crime drama instead of developing into an intelligent mystery-thriller.
http://www.framerated.co.uk/girl-train-2016/
[..]The only redemption is the gaunt and harrowed portrayal of Rachel by Emily Blunt, who looks for comfort in the bottom of her glass. Blunt could have been a contender during the upcoming award season, but only rarely ever one enters the race with a film that can only be watched once.
http://www.asianage.com/movie-reviews/flip-flop-between-appalling-and-appealing-338
The real juice of this film is Blunt and her tour de force performance at the center of the film. Without a great twist to carry the hype, you need a big time performance and the British actress delivers. Rachel is a messy canvas for an actress to dress a role up with. Blunt leans into the role completely. She has the blood shot eyes, red nose, cracked lips, and overall detached personality that really brings this character front and center.
If you don't get this caliber of performance from Blunt, the movie falls apart all together. She saves the film from being a mere gimmick and self loathing and lust for thy neighbor's wife. Blunt saves the film and shows once again, to go with Edge of Tomorrow and Sicario, that she can handle a number of roles. It's an impressive piece of work.
The work of Blunt is the deal breaker for me. She makes this thriller tick and picks up an otherwise mundane reveal by infusing real feeling into Rachel's plight.
The Girl on a Train is the Emily Blunt show. That's its engine and best asset.
http://www.ksdk.com/entertainment/buffa-the-girl-on-a-train-saved-by-emily-blunts-performance/329870960
The best thing in the movie by far is Blunt's intensely vulnerable lead performance. She's onscreen virtually the entire time, often in extreme close-ups that reveal the ravages of Rachel's despair and severe alcoholism. Blunt is fearless, and she provides a core of emotional authenticity that serves as the film's center of gravity. Blunt earns our empathy through the raw force of her performance
http://www.indyweek.com/arts/archives/2016/10/06/movie-review-the-girl-on-the-train-is-the-feel-bad-movie-of-the-fall
Emily Blunt brings such a raw, pained, mortified portrait of an alcoholic to live that it's a shame that the filmmakers fail to recognise this as essentially her story. The inordinate time devoted to Anna, and especially Megan, in their domesticity and even very movie-like crises, take away from Rachels tale of human despair and what it has been wrought from.
http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/the-girl-on-the-train-movie-review-this-is-grave-injustice-3082843/
When this film works, it is primarily when Blunt is on screen. The actress is essentially tasked with keeping the films elastic narrative together, and provide an accurate portrayal of someone on the brink of collapse. Some may describe her as too glamorous in the role, but she provides a very fine central performance that sells the torment Rachel is enduring.
http://citiblog.co.uk/2016/10/10/film-review-girl-train/
Blunt's performance is outstanding [..] Dribbling mascara and ghostly pale skin only capture the surface of Rachel's d -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 19, 2016 02:45 PM)
[Blunt] portrayal is still inspired and compelling. Innocently sipping vodka from a straw, cooing in babies faces with booze breath and screaming into lipstick-vandalized mirrors, she truly does capture the madness of a woman haunted by rage and guilt.
http://leckybang.com/2016/10/18/the-girl-on-the-train-movie-better-than-gone-girl/
Emily Blunt's red-faced, rickety performance conveys the attitude of a woman who's lost herself to the numbing properties of the drink, finding a way to make the stunning actress unappealing to passengers and passersby. Nailing down the appearance of being a grim shadow of her character's former self, Blunt gets wrapped up in the brash, capricious nature of Rachel's drunken escapades, erratically stumbling and sloshing along with her depressing existence until she wakes up in the battered state that gets the film's mysterious engines churning. She earns both sympathy and ire as the deliberately unreliable protagonist, whose boozy and damaged state of mind could feasibly be responsible for crossing any number of boundaries, especially once the film emphasizes which ones she's already stumbled over in the past.
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/71380/girl-on-the-train-the/
By the end of the film, Id decided that Blunts portrayal, while maddening at times, was spot-on, and though the story is actually about three women and their points of view, it is Blunt who is the hub of the wagon wheel, so to speak.[It's a] performance just might snag her a nomination for best actress.
http://www.dailytidings.com/news/20161013/blunt-is-oscar-worthy-in-the-girl-on-train
[..], the movie still functions largely due to Blunts portrayal of the titular protagonist. An actress whose career has been filled with memorable roles ranging from Queen Victoria in Jean-Marc Vallees The Young Victoria to the bakers wife in Rob Marshalls adaptation of Into the Woods, Blunt delivers a chilling, yet captivating performance, despite the thin sketch of a script. Her Rachel is an emotionally vulnerable woman who is determined to unearth the truth but constantly struggles to trust her fractured mind. She is so immersed in the role that, at times, it feels as if the audience is watching a one-woman show.
Derailed by a razor-thin 2000sketch of a script and a director who clearly did not know what he was doing, The Girl on the Train is not the best film adaptation but can definitely be considered another of Emily Blunts most memorable performances.
http://themontclarion.org/review-girl-on-the-train-emily-blunt/
Blunt, is phenomenal in the role. I honestly, cannot imagine another actress fitting the part. Blunt finds a way to convey emotions with a straight face that would be nearly impossible for an actual alcoholic to do. She delivers a tour-de force performance that not only should critics take notice to, but Blunt should be a name in contention come awards season in the Best Actress race people.
http://www.canyon-news.com/the-girl-on-the-train-is-sensational-filmmaking/56960
Emily Blunt is fantastic as Rachel, so obviously unmoored and clinging to sanity by the tiniest threads that it physically hurts to look at her sometimes. How lost she feels, and the fragility of her mental state, is written all over her face before she evens open her mouth to say a word. Her desperation to understand what happened is palpable, and its hard not to get sucked in by her sense of urgency. You cant help but root for her even as she makes you wincingly uncomfortable. You want her to get better, to find herself again, even when the idea of her managing it seems impossible.
http://www.davisclipper.com/view/full_story/27286886/article-Movie-BeatEmily-Blunt-shines-in-darkpainfulThe-Girl-on-the-Train-?instance=lead_story
Blunt is absolutely phenomenal in the role of Rachel. Shes proven herself to be an incredibly diverse actress.[..]Ive not seen all of Blunts performances although I consider that a goal but Im not sure Ive ever seen her play a character like this before. Rachel is broken. She has no pride, no hope or real connection to the world she wanders through. Shes lost and puts all of her dreams and deepest desires on the shoulders of these two people she doesnt know and will never know. Their life is the one she thought she was destined to have with Tom. It should have been hers. Blunt takes us on this journey through paranoia, fear and loss. Ultimately, we watch her battle to reclaim her life
http://www.thedailytimes.com/entertainment/review-the-girl-on-the-train-fixes-novel-s-issues/article_12ffec24-6d3a-5691-a97b-54bbb9739922.html
This is an Emily Blunt showcase all the way. Shes fantastic as the drunk, vulnerable, abused, confused ex-wife Rachel Watson struggling to regain a foothold in society after her divorce.
If it had not been for Blunts fantastic performance, the film would have come across as a quickie aimed at capitalizing on the novels popularity.
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Z6Qgja3Qwiq5lQosLJhTRN/Film-review-The-G -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 19, 2016 02:45 PM)
As always, Blunt is a cinematic force who gives depth to what could have been a clich alcoholic character.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/girl-train-birth-nation-movie-reviews-1.3790908
Emily Blunt with her tousled hair and unkempt look, plays Rachel Watson to the hilt. Her masochistic performance is a treat to watch.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=418459
[..] Emily Blunt being a total revelation. She does justice to her layered, messed up character and evokes sympathy in spite of depicting an enormously flawed role.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/movie-reviews/The-Girl-On-The-Train/movie-review/54699099.cms
I admit, The Girl on the Train is a fun ride, despite its failings. That's chiefly thanks to Blunt, who manages to humanize Rachel so successfully that we root for her by the end.
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20161007__The_Girl_on_the_Train___A_feminist_take_on_murder_mysteries_misses__despite_a_powerhouse_turn_by_Emily_Blunt.html
The Girl on the Train may be too idiosyncratic and moody to get the credit it deserves, but if theres any justice, Blunt should be up for awards consideration. She gives a remarkably invested and unflinching performance.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/The-Girl-on-the-Train-a-mournfully-e5b4rotic-9864975.php
Blunts performance was, by far, my favorite. She seemed so helpless and distraught that you had no choice but to feel sorry for her, but other moments made you think otherwise.
http://www.thepinelog.com/entertainment/article_d5c918ee-901d-11e6-832c-c7c9569bd875.html
Blunt makes her pain palpable, her face puffy and her disorientation real.[She] anchors her characters pain in vivid shades of bitterness and regret, making her anguish compelling. She shambles through the world like a zombie, only emerging from the fog in the final moments. D
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/10/05/review-gloomy-the-girl-on-the-train-rolls-off-track/
Girl on the Trains greatest strength is its game cast, particularly Emily Blunt still among the most underrated performers in Hollywood as Rachel, a badly broken person who can no longer trust herself or anyone else.
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=18594
Emily Blunt gives a terrific performance in The Girl1c84 On The Train drunk, uncertain, frightened, lonely, lost and ultimately brave. Shes always a compelling screen presence, but shes literally the only reason to see this movie.[] But then, Blunt. I keep coming back to Blunt and the work she does to bring Rachel to life. All her choices are interesting, even the way Rachels accent keeps sliding between mid-Atlantic and full English, since the film never tells us where shes from or how she came to be in suburban New York.
https://nowtoronto.com/movies/reviews/emily-blunt-is-the-only-good-reason-to-see-the-girl-on-the-t/
Blunt is the clear standout of the film, [and] she does her best. Blunts Rachel is stripped bare before the camera a broken, emotionally vulnerable woman who cant help but obsess over her past happiness. Its certainly an impressive performance, but it isnt enough to save the film.
http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/10/the-girl-on-the-train-cant-stay-on-the-tracks
Blunt plays the character of Rachel extremely well, convincing audiences she is a far-gone alcoholic with distressed facial features at all times to expose her unhappiness in every aspect of her life.
http://lomabeat.com/2016/10/9536/
The movie does get a saving grace in its lead actress, though. Blunt is easily the best part of The Girl on the Train, perfectly displaying her characters alcoholism, depression and obsessive nature when it comes to her ex-husband.
http://matthewliedke.areavoices.com/2016/10/10/review-lackluster-mystery-dull-acting-sends-girl-on-the-train-off-the-rails/
Let's just get this out of the way: No, the film is not as good as the book. (Are they ever?) And no, it's not as good as Gone Girl.
But one good thing The Girl on the Train does have is Emily Blunt.
Portraying the drunk and desperate heroine from Paula Hawkins best-selling novel was never going to be easy, but the British actress is more than up to the task. She brings a vulnerability and depth to the broken Rachel that draws you in and keeps you along for the ride, which is certainly not a comfortable one.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/film-reviews/85017818/Movie-Review-The-Girl-on-the-Train
Unlike Gone Girls Amy, who reveals herself to be certifiably and unsympathetically diabolical, Rachel, played by Emily Blunt, is much more sympathetic. Both Blunt and director Tate Taylor deserve commendation for the disturbingly accurate depiction of a person suffering from the disease of alcoholism. The blackouts, the shakes, the struggle with both the absence of and overwhelming amount of guiltall of these elements make Rachel an undeniably human character, making the first half of the film more of a study of human st -
Viktorkrumnemesis — 9 years ago(October 19, 2016 04:41 PM)
There are only three quotes in the film's "For Your Consideration" page right now:
http://www.universalpicturesawards.com/film/the-girl-on-the-train/
Can you believe it? Universal Pictures should be ashamed. They should hire you! So, thank you for this thread, darling.
It's a pity the reviews weren't better. I really loved the film and Emily's performance was perfect. But her time will come! -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 20, 2016 11:06 AM)
More:
Emily Blunt excels as the broken-down heroine of Paula Hawkins' bestseller [] [Rachel] is a pretty far-gone alcoholic, and
Blunt, in a perilously effective performance,
plays her with a cold, slack woe that makes it look as if her facial features are slowly coming apart.
Blunts performance is a masochistic revel, but shes such a tender and lyrical actress that she makes even Rachels lowball actions sympathetic.
We cant help but root for her, even when she seems to be a drunken destroyer with borderline personality disorder. At one point, she stands in a bathroom, smearing the mirror2000 with lipstick, letting out the rage she feels at her ex-, and its a cathartic moment. Blunt, who plays half her scenes looking like shes holding back tears (or maybe screams), is a luminous actress whos been in need of a role that allows her to get past her slight decorousness, and this is that role. It should, at last, elevate her star.
http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/the-girl-on-the-train-review-emily-blunt-1201872781/
Carrying the whole film however is Emily Blunt, who gives a brilliant performance that probably deserves a better movie around it. With a puffy face, bleary eyes and subtly slurred speech, Blunt convinces as a woman drowning her self-loathing and intense jealousy in alcohol. Blunt plays Rachel as always on the edge of a breakdown, portraying all of the hurt and confusion and fear that comes from not truly knowing what youve done the night before or even what youre capable of.
Ultimately, The Girl on the Train is a let-down but not a total wash: the performances make the whole endeavour worthwhile, particularly from Emily Blunt who, in a better film, would be bothering awards bodies come the end of the year.
http://www.seensome.com/reviews/7-movies/575-the-girl-on-the-train-review
Blunt is one of those actors who makes her profession look easy, and as such often fails to get the recognition she fully deserves. She's excellent here, the glue that holds together an otherwise near disastrous piece of filmmaking. Cinema has offered us dozens of bad portrayals of drunkenness, but Blunt's is one of the very best. With her portrayal of Rachel, we always feel like we're watching a drunk pretending to be sober, rather than a sober actor playing drunk. She's thoroughly convincing as an alcoholic. Unfortunately, so are the film's director, screenwriter and editor. This one's a mess.
http://www.themoviewaffler.com/2016/10/new-release-review-girl-on-train.html#.WAj07yTLpyE
[Blunt] has always been the type of actor whose movies were worth watching just to see what exciting jazz shes doing in them. It doesnt matter what the subject matter is, or if the rest of the movie will be any good. All that matters is that there will be Blunt.
It doesnt deserve it, but Girl on the Train possesses top-shelf Emily Blunt.
So much of Paula Hawkins bestseller smacks of Gillian Flynns: theres a missing girl (Haley Bennett), a free spirits disdain for suburban life, perspective shifts between characters
. But theres nothing in Gone Girl like Blunts Rachel.
Shes the eponymous hot mess a deeply damaged, black-out drunk who gets embroiled in a tangled, twisty mystery after observing what she suspects is foul play from the window of public transit.
Shes also the most thrillingly unhinged central protagonist of a major American motion picture since Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory. Rachel doesnt do anything as trashily psychotic as Rosamund Pikes Amazing Amy in Gone Girl, and shes not tinfoil hat like Mel. But shes arguably more fascinating and definitely more rare: Shes simply peerlessly pathetic and self-destructive the person you want to help but eventually have to push away out of self-preservation. And here she is, our lead character.
Blunt doesnt sugarcoat Rachel or make her likeable. Her unflattering secrets are doled out piecemeal throughout the film, and each time we learn something new she ramps up her performance, spluttering and flailing about all the more. Watching Blunts touchingly frantic work is more compelling than following the mystery in which Rachels engulfed, though her intrusion into it adds a shot to the arm.
[..]Miss this Emily Blunt performance at your own peril.
http://www.metro.us/entertainment/emily-blunt-is-the-reason-to-see-the-girl-on-the-train/zsJpjcFbDDHp4FezHE/
Ms Blunt nails the teetering insecurity and paranoia of someone cognisant and ashamed of their addiction. Here is a woman manifestly tortured by self-doubt, uncertain of her own identity and place in the world. Ms Blunts face, though still beautiful, has been roughly rouged and puffed up to better resemble someone whose appearance prompts disgust in other commuters. Yet it is really Ms Blunts display of understated misery that makes her intoxication so believable. Playing drunk is very hard to do. Ms Blunt, who, incidentally, was pregnant and entirely sober throughout filming, plays it very convincingly indeed.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/pr -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 20, 2016 09:43 PM)
I felt really uncomfortable during that scene I had a hard time keeping looking. Emily is so real there it felt like you're witnessing someone's private breakdown moment. Like something you are not meant to see.
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afeshs — 9 years ago(October 21, 2016 09:15 AM)
I wonder how long the woman who was there with Rachel waited before leaving. The fact that she left silently made it even more hard hitting. When the camera pans out to Rachel standing all alone there it was incredibly sad!
So many great directional and cinematography choices in that scene. -
MaLiberte — 9 years ago(October 27, 2016 02:20 PM)
I have seen the movie twice. When the first time i saw that scene i wondered the exact same thing actually. So in the second time i paid attention to the woman.
Right after they screamed "beep you Anna Boyd" Rachel turned to the mirror and the woman left. I heard the sound of her heels. It's a very tiny sound, it's normal that you didn't hear it.
I think it is incredibly sad that the woman left that early. Yes, Rachel shared her pain with someone, got support for a moment but that's it. In the end, she was -like you said- all alone. -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 20, 2016 09:46 PM)
But the real star of the movie is Emily Blunt. She turns in the best performance of her career as the deeply troubled title character. Its difficult to make Blunt look so unattractive and pathetic, but the filmmakers did so with a combination of make-up and prosthetics. But its Blunts acting that brought the character to life exactly the way she was envisioned in the book. Her performance is Oscar material.
http://www.erwinrecord.net/viewpoint/movie-night-girl-train-excellent-film-cast/
The most positive takeaway from the film is Emily Blunts portrayal of Rachel. Blunt has silently dominated the film industry with an eclectic compilation of roles over the past decade. From her supporting role in the fashion flick The Devil Wears Prada to a lead in Sicario, a movie surrounding the war on drugs, Blunt had proven to be a versatile actress on the rise. Blunts performance in The Girl on the Train only further demonstrates her wealth of talent. Her portrayal of Rachel is packed full of emotion and embodies the inner struggle of her character. Her facial expressions alone would be enough to convey the intricate, mental challenges that she suffers.
As the old saying goes, the book is always better than the movie. The Girl on the Train is no exception to this. Blunts captivating and definitive portrayal of Rachel carries the movie, but dull supporting characters and questionable derivations from the book halt the movie from finding success.
https://flyernews.com/the-girl-on-the-train-review-surprise-the-book-is-better-than-the-movie/ -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 21, 2016 08:57 AM)
And yet, The Girl on the Train is largely, improbably redeemed by one thing: Emily Blunt's freewheeling, wildly entertaining performance. The British actress has proven gratifyingly willing to stretch her range in recent years, slyly chipping away at her charming persona with roles as tough-as-nails heroines in Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario. But1c84 she's never played someone as magnetically loathsome as Rachel, an alcoholic who makes stupendously bad decisions and alienates everyone around her.
It's a seemingly impossible needle to threadBlunt has to make Rachel unlikable and sympathetic at the same timebut she pulls it off beautifully.
Even burdened with that obnoxious voiceover,
Blunt makes Rachel's pain palpable without ever softening her jagged edges. It's a bold, go-for-broke performance that singlehandedly saves the movie.
And even changes it. As clumsily workmanlike as The Girl on the Train may be as a thriller, it turns out to be a fascinating portrait of addiction and obsession. As someone who careens from one traumatic episode to the next,
Rachel is thoroughly repellent but also profoundly sad, and Blunt invisibly articulates the deep-seated dread and self-loathing of a woman who is unable to trust herself. She can't look herself in the eye, but she lets you see directly into her soul.
http://moviemanifesto.blogspot.ae/2016/10/the-girl-on-train-three-womens-lives.html -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 22, 2016 09:57 AM)
Blunt is the sole strength of the film
as the protagonist Rachel Watson, a recent divorcee whos since turned to alcohol and obsessing over her ex-husbands new life. In and amongst her exhaustingly melodramatic surroundings, she more than holds it together as an actress while her character Rachel completely falls apart. She gives a raw and honest portrayal, while still looking remarkably flawless throughout.
Unfortunately her impeccable performance isnt quite enough to save the show, and if anything highlights how poorly put together the rest of the film is.
http://www.nouse.co.uk/2016/10/21/review-the-girl-on-the-train/
Although these artful touches add to the production value, the film really succeeds on the back of Emily Blunts performance. Her raw depiction of Rachel as a woman who is an angry mess, but also sad, lost, and, suddenly, determined to make things less awful, gives the plot some emotional resonance. Blunt is great at playing both drunk and in withdrawal. She also is convincing in her insistence that she used to be someone less disastrous. Blunts performance is really the standout in the film, as most of the supporting cast delivers either lackluster work or is in the film so briefly they barely register above a cameo.
http://www.thewaynedalenews.com/opinion/13147-secrets-and-a-tangled-web-of-lies-at-the-movies-with-kasey.html -
afeshs — 9 years ago(October 25, 2016 08:36 AM)
Blunt arguably puts in one of her most impressive performances of recent years. Praise is due to Blunt for being able to sell Rachels mania and lose grip on clarity throughout the film however, it is a crying shame that the remainder of the movie rather make her performance a lonely light to behold.
http://www.onenewspage.com/n/Entertainment/759vi2nva/MOVIE-REVIEW-The-Girl-on-the-Train.htm