Rails & Ties

Contrary to popular belief, I can be as sentimental as the next gal. True, I am unforgiving of the sort of trite sentimentality that seems to be prerequisite of the 'chick flick,' and I am unrepentant in my avoidance of anything that might qualify. Rails and Ties snuck in under my radar; probably because I don't think of Kevin Bacon as the sort of actor who would choose to be in one. My bad. This is definitely a chick flick, and it is achingly sentimental - heck, my husband cried. What it isn't is trite - although the story is fantastical and no, Virginia, life rarely works out in quite this tidy a fashion.

Tom (Bacon) is a train engineer who is having a lot of trouble dealing with the fact that his wife, Megan (Marcia Gay Harden) is dying of cancer; he's having so much trouble dealing with it that she is near to leaving him... determined to make the most of the time she has left. Then Tom makes a judgement call in a train vs. car situation that results in the death of a young woman, and makes an orphan of her 13 year old son (convincing newcomer Miles Heizer.) When Davey eludes Child Protection and shows up at their doorstep to confront Tom, Megan is smitten and unable to turn him away.

This is the first feature film directed by Alison Eastwood, (yep, that would be Clint's daughter) and she seems to have the family gift for drawing out memorable performances. Harden is blessed with looks that seem to meld into Everywoman- she is remarkably real and beautiful while trying to look plain and simple. Her Megan is glorious in her pain and vulnerability. The ending may be fairy stuff, but the journey seems genuine in its exploration of grief and healing. See the website here, and don't give me any chick flick crap....