IMDb > Rails & Ties (2007)

Rails & Ties (2007) More at IMDbPro »

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Rails & Ties (2007) -- A deadly collision between a train and car lead to an unlikely bond between the train engineer and a young boy who escapes the carnage.
Rails & Ties (2007) -- Clip: How'd you find me?
Rails & Ties (2007) -- Interview: Kevin Bacon "On The Story"
Rails & Ties (2007) -- A deadly collision between a train and car lead to an unlikely bond between the train engineer and a young boy who escapes the carnage.
Rails & Ties (2007) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   1,775 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alison Eastwood
Writer (WGA):
Micky Levy (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Rails & Ties on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 April 2008 (Brazil) more
Genre:
Drama more
Tagline:
When life comes apart, love puts it back together.
Plot:
A deadly collision between a train and car lead to an unlikely bond between the train engineer and a young boy who escapes the carnage. | full synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
User Comments:
A decent melodrama more (15 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Kevin Bacon ... Tom Stark

Marcia Gay Harden ... Megan Stark

Miles Heizer ... Davey Danner

Marin Hinkle ... Renee

Eugene Byrd ... Otis Higgs

Bonnie Root ... Laura Danner

Steve Eastin ... N.B. Garcia

Laura Cerón ... Susan Garcia
Margo Martindale ... Judy Neasy
Kathryn Joosten ... Mrs. Brown

Steven M. Porter ... Howie Pugh

Jim Cody Williams ... Vince the Engineer

Kerri Randles ... Rosanna
Stephen Peace ... Bartender

Robert Harvey ... Administrator #1
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, an accident scene, brief nudity and momentary strong language.
Runtime:
101 min | Argentina:109 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Alison Eastwood's directorial debut. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-11-10)" (2007) more

FAQ

A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS
more
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
A decent melodrama, 8 February 2009
6/10
Author: LeroyBrown-2 from Northern California

I know very little of this movie until I saw it. All I know is that it's about a railroad engineer and his wife who's suffering from cancer. There's another element in the movie that I didn't know about until I saw the movie and it's about a young boy who has a troubled mother. Somehow the lives of the couple and the young boy would intersect literally and tragically. All this sounds like a melodrama from the 1930s. And in many ways it is, but it also has a brutal frankness in it that the 1930s movies didn't have.

The movie stars Kevin Bacon as the train engineer and his wife played by Marcia Gay Harden, we could see that there's a riff in their marriage. He would much rather work than spend time with his wife even though his boss is telling him he could have some time off. She doesn't understand why he's being so distant. It's obvious he's burying himself in work as she faces a dire future. This part of the movie is very frank as we see the despondency both have.

The other element in the movie is the boy played by Miles Heizer. He has a troubled mother, it's obvious he has become the adult in the relationship. He enters the engineer's world angrily and he blamed the engineer for the death of his mother. The engineer's wife would take pity on him and soon he finds himself staying with them. Somehow the tragedy that took the boy's mother would bring something that the boy has never had and the couple thought they lost.

It's really a simple melodrama but it has a frankness in it that they would never consider in the 1930s. One unforgettable scene is when she looked at herself in the mirror and see the scar cancer has left and breaks down, while he was on the other side of the door not knowing what to do. During one argument he blurts out angrily "Because You had cancer", it sounds as if he were angry at her. Obviously he's angry at the disease for what it has taken away from him, the possibility of children and now his wife. Also when the boy was crying out blaming himself for the death of those he love. It's very honest and frank how children sometime blame themselves for things they do not understand.

Credit and blame goes to both the writer Mickey Levy and director Allison Eastwood created a group of characters who are very complex and are facing difficult situations but then it spirals into sentimentality. The story of the engineer and his wife by itself is powerful then add the story of the boy trying to go on with his life and understand what's going on would make the movie even more powerful but when the two story is combined it became too sentimental.

Miss Eastwood's directing style is very similar to that of her father, tell the story in a straightforward way and get out of the way of the actors, The acting is superb, it's obvious that both Mr. Bacon and Miss Harden are very good actors but young Mr. Heizer proves too that he has talent. He's definitely a young talent to keep an eye on.

All in all I think it's a good modern melodrama but with the frankness of modern times but then it spiraled into an almost shameless, unabashed treacle.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Song from movie... Chemx89
Jesus, what a movie ErnieLane
Unlikely story E-un
Lifetime movie with good acting.... hannahp1
I liked this movie MarMitch
Improbable... UncleJ4
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