Rails & Ties (2007)

Megan (Marcia Gay Harden) is fighting a third occurrence of breast cancer. As a nurse, her life has been fulfilling but, lately, she is struggling. Realizing that she may not whip the deadly disease again, she is longing to take short vacations and make the most of her time. She especially regrets that she and her husband, Tom (Kevin Bacon) never had children. As for Tom, he is quiet and has trouble with communication. Most days, he goes straight from his job as a railroad engineer, when the work day is done, to the garage where his elaborate miniature train set runs. Therefore, he is not showing strong visible support for Megan's condition. The two of them, however, are about to receive a significant jolt. One day, a suicidal, mentally ill mother places her car on a railroad track, wanting to end her life. Her elementary aged son, Davey, who has been ordered out of the car, knows what's coming but can't stop her. Sure enough, the train that Tom is running strikes the car, for the engineer couldn't stop in time without a serious derailment. Davey is placed in foster care. What the authorities don't count on is that Davey is very smart, runs away from the foster family and makes a beeline to Tom's, for the lad has discovered who was in charge of the train on the day of the accident. After some shouting and crying, Megan and Tom keep the boy with them, hoping to get him into a better state of mind. One day turns into two, then three, then more. Its just what Megan needs, a child to love and a diversion from her problems. Its also good for Tom, who needs to learn how to "open up". Will they become a family? This is a touching story, replete with serious topics like suicide, cancer, childlessness, depression and losing a parent. As such, although it is quite somber, the movie has the ability to help viewers with similar issues. Harden and Bacon deliver strong performances and the other cast members do good work, too. Settings, costumes, script and direction are well done also. Do you like tear-generating films or are you and anyone you love struggling with cancer or loss of a relative? Getting this film might prove instrumental in confronting these matters.

Rails and Ties is a sweetly sad little tearjerker that doesn't let a fairly implausible story stop it from being legitimately moving. It's living proof that the characters you care the most about are the ones who can be imperfect and unlikable at times.Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) is a railroad engineer. He's one of these guys whose job defines everything about him. And now, Tom's job has become a shelter from the pain of seeing breast cancer return for a third time in his wife Megan (Marcia Gay Hardin). This time it's gotten into the bone and there's nothing that can be done. But while Tom seeks refuge from Megan's illness running the train from Simi Valley to Seattle, the profound troubles of another woman reach out for him. The mentally unwell Laura Danner (Bonnie Root) loads her son Davey (Miles Heizer) into their car and parks it on the tracks in front of Tom's train. As Davey struggles to pull his suicidal mother to safety, Tom makes a terrible choice. Rather than hit the emergency break and risk the lives of all his passengers by sending the train off the rails, Tom lets it plow right through the car.His mother dead, Davey is placed into a foster home, which he promptly runs away from and sets out to find Tom. Just as Megan is about to leave Tom and spend her final days doing all the things Tom won't do with her, Davey shows up at their house. After an initial explosion of anger, the lonely and grief-stricken boy finds himself clinging to Megan and Tom as the only things he was left in the world. To Megan, Davey becomes the son she never had. To Tom, he's a bridge back to Megan's love, a love that became frozen in anger and fear and resentment. This new family, born out of one tragedy and silently marching toward another, finds joy and hope in each other that they could never find in themselves.I have to admit upfront that the whole "kid's mother gets killed and he becomes like a son to the guy who killed her" is a bit hard to swallow. I'm no headshrinker, but that strikes me as a wildly unhealthy situation that would not lead to anything heartfelt. It would more likely lead to someone getting stabbed in the heart.If you're willing to go along with the premise, however, Rails and Ties is a lovely tale. Primarily that's due to the fine work of Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Hardin. They're both excellent as a husband and wife that have been worn out by cancer. Bacon portrays Tom as a man who can only deal with such an awful situation by shutting down emotionally. Hardin lets us see Megan as a woman who's turned inward because she hasn't been able to get anything she needs from her husband in a long time. You can tell that Tom and Megan used to love each other but are now held together only by the memory of that affection. And what makes these performances work is that Bacon and Hardin are willing to give them an unsympathetic edge. Tom's refusal to acknowledge things that make him uncomfortable leads him to act like a jerk. Megan's selfish disgust with Tom's stony exterior prevents her from being just a poor victim. Tom still loves her and Megan knows that, but at the beginning of the story she simply doesn't care anymore. Those elements of unvarnished humanity prevent this film from wallowing in syrupy melodrama.Director Alison Eastwood also shows that she's got her father's firm and unadorned directorial eye. There's nothing particularly flashy about what she does here, but she manages to give a different look and feel to the same sort of moments and scenes we've all seen in other films like this. By disdaining the most emotionally manipulative storytelling styles and techniques, Eastwood imbues this movie with a sense of reality that creeps its way into your heart and doesn't wash you away in a flood of artificial sentiment.Now, Miles Heizer isn't terrible as Davey but he's not one of these freakish child actors that blows you away on screen. He doesn't really have the depth that this role calls for at times, which is probably a good thing for him personally. Child actors capable of such emotional range tend to have some difficulties growing into adults. Yeah, I'm looking at you Edward Furlong and Haley Joel Osment.If you want to have yourself a good cry and not feel ashamed at how easily and crudely a movie tricked you into it, watch Rails and Ties. I'm not much one from having my heart strings tugged, but this film played me like a ukulele.

Tom Stark has a lot to deal with as he prepares to take the Stargazer Express up North to Seattle. His wife, Megan, has been told her cancer is inoperable because it has metastasized in her bones. He has been offered to be relieved by a couple of buddies, but being conscientious, he decides to operate the train. Fate conspires against him when a disturbed woman, Laura Danner, decides to commit suicide by stopping her car in the tracks. To make matters worse, she intends to keep her young son, Miles, in the car, so the boy will die with her. Unfortunately, Tom, who has observed the car in the distance, decides not to stop the train, fearing he would derail, thus putting his passengers in danger of death, but killing the suicidal woman.Young Miles is beside himself as he blames Tom for not stopping. The young boy is placed in a foster home with a woman that is a disciplinarian. The lad ends up running away, as he finds his way over to Tom and Megan's home, seeking revenge for what he perceives was a cold blood murder. His arrival changes the dynamics in the house because Megan has decided to leave Tom and go to San Francisco. The boy is instrumental for her staying, as well as for finding peace with herself and for Tom to find redemption for the terrible decision he had to make.Alison Eastwood made her directorial debut with this film, written for the screen by Micky Levy. This team couldn't have been luckier in finding a better cast than what they got. The beginning of the story grabs the viewer's attention, but after the arrival of Miles at the Starks, it changes direction into a predictable domestic drama.Kevin Bacon is one of our most versatile actors. This is an actor who always delivers because he is incapable of giving a fake performance. Same can be said for Marcia Gay Harden. Her Megan shows a woman in pain for what she considers a terrible blow she has been dealt when she contracted a horrible disease she certainly didn't deserve. It is a pleasure watching Mr. Bacon and Ms. Harden because each compliment the other well. Young Miles Heizer, whose work has been basically in television, surprises for the way he holds his own against the stars.Ms. Eastwood shows a promise and one can only wish her well in future projects where she will probably find her own voice in the American cinema.

This is definitely a "chick flick", but it is so well acted and directed that even men can sit through it. (Though I warn you, guys, you'll be at least close to tears. So be forewarned who you watch this with.) Kevin Bacon is a train conductor faced with the consequences of putting on the emergency brakes, and (he believes) derailing his train and hurting or killing passengers, or driving on and striking a car a woman has parked on the tracks to kill herself. He chooses to slow the train down but not use the emergency brakes and kills the (suicidal) woman. The son of the woman shows up at the door of the conductor and his wife who are struggling to survive as a couple themselves. Initially, the boy wants to confront the conductor, but the conductor's wife's love melts his reserves and the boy stays on in hiding with the couple. You never realize the depth of their struggles until it's revealed towards the end of the film. Again, what could have been a maudlin and pathetic (in the worst sense) plot twist is completely acceptable because of the acting and subdued directing.Not one you'll remember for its plot but I think you will remember the acting and think you should watch it, implausible as it is, for what it is. Saying you'll "enjoy" it seems strange, and there's really no moral lesson here except perhaps that life has a way of delivering what you need though it seems like just the opposite sometimes.