Man on the Train (2002)

A bank robber arrives to do a job in a small French town and strikes up a friendship with a retired poetry teacher.

Director:

Patrice Leconte

Writer:

Claude Klotz

Stars:

Jean Rochefort, Johnny Hallyday, Jean-François Stévenin

8 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Rochefort	...	Monsieur Manesquier
Johnny Hallyday	...	Milan
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Luigi
Charlie Nelson	...	Max
Pascal Parmentier	...	Sadko
Isabelle Petit-Jacques	...	Viviane
Edith Scob	...	La soeur de Manesquier
Maurice Chevit	...	Le coiffeur
Riton Liebman	...	Le costaud
Olivier Fauron	...	Le collégien
Véronique Kapoyan	...	Le boulngère
Elsa Duclot	...	La serveuse
Armand Chagot	...	Le jardinier
Michel Laforest	...	Le pharmacien
Alain Guellaff	...	Le chirugien

Storyline

A teacher and a gangster meet by chance in a small town pharmacy. As a friendship of sorts develops between these opposite personalities, each starts to envy the other and by the week's end, everything will change for both of them.

---

Plot Keywords:

teacher | criminal | poetry | opposites | small town | 

---

Taglines:

A poet. A thief. Two strangers with nothing in common are about to trade their lives for a chance to cheat their destinies.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language and brief violence

Details

Official Sites:

Pathé / 1000 Films (French)

Country:

France UK Germany Japan

Language:

French

Release Date:

20 June 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Man on the Train

Filming Locations:

Annonay, Ardèche, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$659,820 (France), 4 October 2002

Opening Weekend USA:

$41,138, 11 May 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,541,320, 23 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ciné B, Zoulou Films, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jean Rochefort died in October 2017. Two months later, Johnny Hallyday died.

---

Quotes

Monsieur Manesquier: [after an abortive confrontation] I suppose my time hasn't come.
Milan: That took guts.
Monsieur Manesquier: I try picking a fight and find someone who likes me.
Milan: You'd have preferred broken bottles?
Monsieur Manesquier: [shrugs] It would have been something to remember.

---

Connections

Remade as Man on the Train (2011)

User Reviews

Wonderful drama about two men who want to switch places...

1st watched 8/9/2003 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Patrice Leconte): Wonderful drama about two men who want to switch places in life because each is bored of what their life has become. One is a bank robber, and the other is a retired poetry teacher. The bank robber is plain tired of the excitement and the other wants excitement in his life. The retired poetry teacher also has an upcoming triple-bypass heart surgery that lends to his aggressiveness about trying out the other lifestyle. Like many French dramas, this movie takes it's time and explores the characters and let's us get to know them. This is `so' lacking in most American films these days and therefore this is a breath of fresh air for those who are okay with reading subtitles. While watching this movie you get the feeling that you're watching two `real' people interacting despite their differences. Do they ever switch places? Well, sort of but like other French dramas `reality' is where the film stays for the most part. The ability for the characters to understand and accept each other is `just' wonderful and makes a wonderful statement about how we should `all' interact and I think this is what makes this film remarkable.