Night Train

In the cast & crew interviews on the DVD, the name "Hitchcock" is mentioned by multiple people multiple times. Whether or not "Night Train" will strike you as a Hitchcockian thriller, one thing can be said without a doubt: it was highly, brazenly, unapologetically influenced by the master of suspense, old Alfie.

That means it contains all of the following: suspense, action, comedy, innuendo, morality, heaps of character psychology, psychosis, an amusingly pompous Victorian old lady or two (recall that Hitchcock was schooled by nuns) and another Hitchcock trademark: a little dog. Those are the superficial similarities, and yes, you can watch this film simply for its entertainment value and have a great time. But to me, the beauty of Hitchcock and similarly "Night Train" is that you can dig below the surface and have a great time experiencing what the story is really about.

For the sake of this review, I'll assume that describes you if you read further. If not, the other reviews here on IMDb have covered the bases as far as entertainment value. On that point I'll just summarize by saying that this is a very fast-paced, interesting, sometimes-gory-sometimes-humorous, dreamlike film that will keep your attention from start to finish, even though the story is linear. It packs enough twists to keep things at a boil until the end.

Now about the deeper themes, the real substance that made films like Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train", "Blackmail" and "Rope" such classics. This movie has a simple story that revolves around a bunch of people fighting over a "MacGuffin". A "Macguffin" is a term Hitchcock used to describe the central object that makes everyone act the way they do, and yet, it doesn't matter what it is. What matters is how characters react to it. In spy movies, the Macguffin was often the microfilm or the secret files. In crime capers, the Macguffin is usually money or jewels. In "Night Train" the Macguffin is simply a wooden box. Thus, the director is making a sort of joke, telling us "it don't get any more 'Macguffin' than this, folks!" Once we accept the premise that everyone is fighting over this box, we understand what the real film is about. It's about how people change when consumed by desire for something. Note that it's not just about greed, lust or material possession. Instead, it's a bit more complex: the box represents HOPE.

And that, my friends, is what makes this a great film. Pay attention to the different characters and how they react to the promise of their own greatest hope. Not everyone turns into ruthless killers (although, as you can guess, at least one person does!). A few characters become remarkably more human when infused with hope. I won't say who they are for fear of ruining it, but let's just say the acting was fantastic.

If you're starting to nod off, don't worry. There are a few murders, a bunch of blood, maybe a decapitation or two, Leelee Sobieski showing some skin (though no outright nudity), some very tense action and some genuinely funny moments (the satirical humor, as if sometimes poking fun at all the thriller clichés, is a lot of fun).

Filmed entirely in East Europe--almost completely on board a train which was built specifically for this film--the movie carries a timeless, location-less, surreal vibe as if in a dream. Certain props are antique looking while other elements are distinctly modern. That is to say, "Night Train" is completely cut off from reality, and that's the way it should be approached. It's really like a fable more than a traditional thriller story.

If you're a fan of the old Hitchcock flicks as well as John Huston ("The Maltese Falcon") and others of that genre, you should check out "Night Train" for a fun, modern spin on that classic way of storytelling.

Leelee Sobieski, Danny Glover, and Steve Zahn give life to their characters as people overcome with greed (or hope) for a better life. What starts out as an innocent "finders keepers" tale turns into a lemming march to destruction.

The story is about three strangers whose lives intersect while traveling at night on a train during the Christmas holidays. Sobieski is Chloe, a biology/med student unhappy with her future prospects of following a career not of her choosing. Danny Glover is the aging conductor whose family is desperately in need of additional financial support that he cannot provide. Zahn is a wannabe salesman whose life story seems to be one of alcohol abuse and failure. The story swirls around these strangers as they try to hold onto a box of riches which can fulfill their dreams.

Although obviously a low budget production, the suspense is well paced, the action sequences are timed perfectly and the characters are all empathetic (especially Glover's character, the conductor). Only one fault I find with the movie is a couple of minutes of totally unnecessary gore. Otherwise a solid piece of film making and storytelling.

It definitely is not some first run Hollywood flick, but it had good American actors and not a horrible plot. You see this mysterious stranger dies on a train, and only three people see him. Well he has this mysterious box, oh so evil, that warps each person's mind with dreams of riches then sows strife amongst the passengers who are trying to claim it. It has horror elements to it, the original box bearer was hacked up after death to aid in the disposal of the body by Leelee Sobieski, some buttoned down pre-med student severely bitten by the greed bug. Danny Glover is the train's conductor who tries to be all moral and fair, and Steve Zahn plays his trademark loser rogue role as a drunken salesman who sees his big break. Of course, the dead man has others trailing him who too were smitten by the greed thing. And soon more bodies start piling up on top of the first one who was an accidental drug overdose. The ending really was sort of a let down, it's like everyone on the train was somehow already or got involved and started shooting everything and everyone to pieces as the box exerted its malignant supernatural influence all around, even on the people who didn't peer inside, which is what hooks someone on the greed hate thing. The noirish, creepy atmosphere set design, a mix of modern and 1940s, was interesting and the cgi animation of the exterior shots of the train winding down line in the snow were adequate for the film. It was made in Bulgaria. But the lame ending, when they needed to concentrate on the initial triumvirate of conspirators, made it fall short of the mark. It could have become a good cult film with a better ending, not just endless twists of the supporting cast popping as greed treasure seekers to create more mayhem.

Leelee Sobieski is the main reason for seeing this low-budget train thriller. From a mousy medical student in a watch cap in the beginning to a cleaver-wielding, blood-spattered maiden of death by the end, she gives a performance of unsettling ferocity.

A train has stopped in the darkness during a snowstorm and two conductors, one of them Danny Glover in decent-guy mode, are on the tracks smoking when a man clutching a package stumbles out of the woods. The conductors allow him on board with the understanding he'll buy his ticket later. Once aboard, the stranger settles in a lounge car, where he swallows a bunch of pills, washing them down with vodka. Next thing you know, he's dead of an overdose.

Only two other people were in the lounge car to witness this, an alcoholic salesman played by Steve Zahn in his usual goofball-loser mode and a medical student with a studious, ultra-serious demeanor played by Sobieski. They call the death to the attention of the conductor played by Glover.

They become curious about the man's package and look inside. It contains a small wooden box with perforations allowing them to see what's inside, which is apparently worth a king's ransom because everybody who looks inside gasps in wonder. This is our macguffin and it serves much the same purpose as the briefcase in "Pulp Fiction." It doesn't really matter what's inside; you just know everybody wants it.

The three conspire. First order of business -- disposing of the body (black, black humor). Then things get complicated. Turns out the three conspirators are not the only ones who knew the stranger was on the train with his package. You know nothing good is going to come of this and you are absolutely right. Betrayal. Mayhem. Murder.

In order to enjoy this movie, you have to overlook a lot of major implausibilities. For such a long train, there's hardly anyone aboard. Plot points involving night ice fishing and murderous electrical tape are also hard to swallow.

All the exteriors of the train hurtling down the track at what looks like 200 mph are cheap CGI. Doesn't matter. We get it -- fast train, darkness, lots of snow, in the middle of nowhere.

And then there's Leelee Sobieski, icily delivering lines with blood on her face and insanity in her eyes. Whoa.

I'm a fan of low budget film-making and I am convinced that from the truly talented filmmakers monetary limitations bring out the best in terms of creativity.

Night Train is basically a chamber piece. The whole story takes place within the compartments of a long train riding relentlessly through the darkness on Christmas eve. All the exterior shots are rather cheap looking CGI of the passenger train going ahead in the snow blizzard which in itself is not distracting, on the contrary - the darkness outside increases the gloomy, disturbing atmosphere inside the train. The set design is problematic though. The interior of the train makes it look like we're in the past, early in the last century. I was under the impression that that was the case - even the way people dress in the movie fueled this conviction - but then around 40 minutes into the film one of the characters uses a cell phone.

Although the tech credits are okay, by the look of the inside of the train I could see the film was shot somewhere in Eastern Europe and firing up IMDb I saw I was right. So it's not the dodgy CGI but the unnecessarily confusing set design what gives away the low budget of the film.

Plotwise it's all seen it all before. Many people refer to Shallow Grave in the threads here - yes, the setup recalls that movie, but then halfway through the story it takes a turn into a far more mysterious direction. Problem is, up until that time the plot is very predictable and goes through the usual motions (albeit in fast forward, given the time constraints) as characters debate what to do with the dead body and the loot, begin to act suspiciously to each other and to outsiders then ultimately turn on each other. This mechanical plot takes over from characterization, so after the twist in the midpoint when events become less predictable it's hard to really care because the characters remain thin and uninteresting.

Acting is okay, Danny Glover gives a low-key performance that suits the purposes of the film, while Zahn apparently tries to bring out the best of his clichéd role. Leelee Sobielski is quite convincing at first with her deadpan reactions and attitude but later gives a kind of performance which is borderline comic - I am not sure if this was intentional.

The unfortunate set design and some grave credibility issues (I am no expert of US police procedure but the way a detective handles the situation later on in the film seems quite ridiculous, plus even on Christmas it is hard to imagine only a handful of people would take a train that has a dozen carriages, a working bar and kitchen but no other staff than two attendants) make this a slightly worse than average movie.