In Téchiné's version, Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne), the young lady in question, is a bit of a nitwit. Whether that is intentional or she just comes off that way is unclear to me. Jeanne lives with her mother, Louise (Catherine Deneuve), and rollerskates and rides trains all day while listening to her mp3 device. Not a care in the world. She falls for Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle), a young man who has "crazed stalker" practically tattooed across his forehead. After initially resisting his advances she moves in with him in record time. Her mom notices that he is a bit bent but, as long as you feed her a drink, she is agreeable to it. In fairness, this is more of a cultural difference between America and France, but mom either is an airhead or doesn't care, no matter the culture.
Téchiné chooses to pay little attention to the craziness surrounding the real case, which is a mistake. Without the national craziness caused by the case, he has chosen to focus on the girl and what it is that drives her. That's fine, except we really never find that out. This leaves us scratching our collective heads and in turn also leaves us almost bored to tears. Even if you want to keep it small, you still have to make it powerful, even though it's even harder to accomplish that goal. He has failed, and therefore, this train should be taken out of service.
| Movie title | The Girl on the Train (La Fille Du Rer) |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2009 |
| MPAA Rating | NR |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | A young lady's claim of being the victim of an anti-Semitic attack is as boring as her story is phony. |
