Review of The Railway Man (2013) by Matthew P — 04 Nov 2014

"It may not be great history but "The Railway Man" is worth seeking out thanks to good performances from Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman".

DVD Movie Review: The Railway Man.

Date Viewed: October 2 2014.

Directed By Jonathan Teplitzky.

Screenplay By Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson, Based on the novel by Eric Lomax.

Starring: Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada,.

Tanroh Ishida and Sam Reid.

"The Railway Man" is an ambitious and well-made war movie about one man who must balance the demons of his past with a specter of forgiveness. It is uneven and predictable but thanks to good performances from Oscar winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, it is a good old-fashioned history lesson.

"The Railway Man" stars Firth as Eric Lomax, a former British officer who is still suffering psychological trauma from his experiences in World War II many years ago. He was captured by the Japanese in Singapore and was sent to a POW camp, where he was forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway. During his time in the camp, he was tortured by the Japanese military because he wanted to build a radio from spare parts.

With the help of his wife Patti (Nicole Kidman) and best friend Finlay (Stellan Skarsgard), Eric decides to find and confront one of his captors, Japanese officer Takashi Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada) who since then has escaped prosecution as a war criminal. Eric returns to the POW camp where he was held captive many years ago and torments the Japanese officer in an attempt to let go years of unspeakable cruelty.

Director Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man) and screenwriters Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson have no clue on how to handle the scenes where Lomax comes face-to-face with officer Nagase. Those scenes are not handled well but Colin Firth brings conviction to his role as a man who is on the brink of madness. Nicole Kidman is especially good as Patti Lomax and Jeremy Irvine (from "War Horse") does a nice job playing the younger Eric Lomax. "The Railway Man" may not be great history but it's worth seeking out thanks to Firth and Kidman.