Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train was not a great novel but a welcome page-turner that arrived just in time for last summer’s beach-read season. Many of its 11 million readers are likely wondering how this film can work given the book’s reliance on rotating first-person voices and lookalike characters.
Director Tate Taylor (The Help, Get On Up) solves that dilemma with tight close-ups and a limited, somewhat claustrophobic, cast of characters that keeps us in the head of Rachel (Emily Blunt), which is a thrilling place to be.
The Girl on the Train, the film, offers viewers one thing we haven’t had in a while — a satisfying mystery. Once it’s solved, the film derails.
Book lovers who were disappointed by David Fincher’s (stylistic and beautiful) Gone Girl, should give this one a chance.
Simply put: A satisfying murder mystery and a ride worth taking.
Award potential: Emily Blunt is a standout who may be remembered, but this is more of a popcorn thriller than Oscar contender.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
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