Well, I suppose there comes a time in every new reviewer’s life when he or she must give a movie a poor review. So here goes…

The Girl on the Train is based on an actual occurrence in 2004 when Marie-Léonie Leblanc, a French 23 year old, faked being the victim of an anti-Semitic attack. Sounds like it’s going to be interesting right? But somehow André Téchiné manages to take a true story rife with possibility and turn it into a boring, 2 hour slog.

The lie about the attack is the only thing lifted from the actual events of 2004. To me, this should have been the meat of the story, but instead the lie and its aftermath are jammed into the last quarter of the film. Everything that comes before it is a slow, poorly-paced build where I imagine we were supposed to be getting a feeling for Jeanne (the Leblanc character) and the motives for her impending crime. But I, personally didn’t at all. I had no feeling for who this character was or why she felt compelled to perpetrate such a fraud.

The score was heavy handed. Dramatic and ominous, it continually eluded to an impending tragedy that never came. This serves as a good allegory for the film itself. As my friend Leah, who was watching the film with me, said: “Maybe French people think just having a boring life is tragedy enough”.

I have looked at some other reviews and a lot of critics think this is a great movie. Have any of you seen it? What did you think?

Thanks to Leah and Laura both for sitting through this with me (and for the burritos!). We saw this at Cinema 123. Check out my Theatre Map for the location.