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As "Rails and Ties" opens, locomotive engineer Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) is having the kind of day most of us wouldn't wish on our own worst enemy; his 41-year-old wife, Megan (Marcia Gay Harden), has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and a mentally ill young mother has committed suicide by parking her car directly in the path of the train he is conducting. As is customary in such cases, Tom is put on temporary suspension pending an investigation of the crash. He also has to come to terms with the imminent loss of his wife, who laments the fact that the couple never had a child and that she will die without ever having truly lived. Meanwhile, the dead woman's 11-year-old son, Davey (Miles Heizer), who has miraculously escaped the tragedy (it was intended as a murder/suicide), seeks Tom out to confront him about running over his mother, but stays to find a surrogate family of sorts with Tom and Megan - with all the messy legal ramifications that that entails.

Needless to say, given the plot as outlined above, "Rails and Ties" isn't exactly designed to be a passel of upbeat fun. Still, those with a taste for serious, thoughtful, humanistic dramas will find much to cherish in this film. The Micky Levy screenplay focuses, primarily, on the complex marital relationship of Tom and Megan, as they struggle with why Tom has never been able to fully commit himself to either the marriage or the prospect of being a father.

Given all the various tragic elements that meet up in this single drama, the movie could easily have become awash in sentimentality and bathos. Instead, the subtlety and restraint of Alison Eastwood's direction, along with the richly understated performances (especially by Harden), keep the suds from rising too much to the surface. The result is a movie that deals authentically and truthfully with some highly unorthodox and rather touchy subject matter. "Rails and Ties" may pluck on the heartstrings a little too freely at times, but the tears and throat lumps it elicits are, for the most part, honestly earned.

I really liked this movie even though it made me cry so much that I had a headache. Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden and Miles Heizer made me believe that I was looking into their lives and Alison Eastwood's direction clearly had something to do with that. The script however was very unbelievable. But then again, does it really matter? When I turn to movies, I want to escape reality because reality is not that great (at least mine isn't). I'm not saying that I enjoy crying but I enjoy a movie that can bring me into their world and, for 100 or so minutes, I did not, for one second, think of my world. So I, for one, will look forward to seeing more from Alison Eastwood!

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.

This is the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood. Daddy Clint must have taught her his cinema's tricks. That influence is seen, even though this was her first.

Although not a movie without its flaws, it is human, dramatic and real. It's solid on story, drama and actors's performances, particularly the lead actors: Marcia Gay Harden, Kevin Bacon and especially Miles Heizer. This boy is sensational! He takes the whole movie alone and makes the movie's best scenes, so realistic is his sorrow. I'm kinda shocked that his filmography is practically TV series and almost no full-length movies. How can that be with a boy this talented?? America doesn't know what it missed!!

Miles Heizer's character (Davey) is, like Kevin Bacon's character said, a strange boy because he is so mature for his age.

RAILS & TIES (2007) **1/2 Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, Miles Heizer, Marin Hinkle, Eugene Byrd, Bonnie Root, Steve Eastin, Laura Ceron, Margo Martindale, Kathryn Joosten. Unlikely melodrama about a young boy (newcomer Heizer) who comes into the lives of a train engineer and his dying wife (Bacon and Harden respectively) after an act of fate occurs binding the three together through their grief. Actress Allison Eastwood – daughter of Clint – parallels her father in the film-making process in this directorial debut that comes across as a Lifetime TV Movie but she employs many of his skills (i.e. soft fades to black, expert acting, subtle camera movements) that overlook the script's shortcomings.

I rented this on DVD and am wondering why they took out the Additional Scenes in the movie that are on the Special Features. I was hoping there would be some interviews on the DVD, but alas, had to settle for just the Additional Scenes.

This movie has typical Lifetime TV earmarks, but with a lot more to give. I was especially impressed with Miles Heizer in his role of the young boy. It is a good story that gives both character insight angles of the victim and the accidental killer. I applaud the casting done here. Kevin Bacon's role was perhaps the best choice to play this particularly difficult part, and he conveyed/portrayed it very well. I can't think of any other actor who could have pulled it off.

The emotional dramas did cause me to pull out some hankies, but they did not dwell on this content in an overdone fashion. I am weary of movies that linger on with many scenes of someone dying in bed of cancer (which was not done at all in a great movie "Who Will Love My Children"), but they kept the IV drip bit scenes to a tolerable minimum. The tears were not associated so much to the cancer bit, but was with how the story was put together ... very, very well done.

This young 14-year-old lad, Miles Heizer, is a gem and I really hope to see more of him performing in more films. This movie I recommend when you're in an emotional mood of viewing pleasure. It's definitely worth the rental fee.

I started watching this movie because it sounded like it involved something about a train accident. It does, but that's not what this movie is about. What got me is the sad clip of the train engineer's wife looking at her mastectomy in the mirror - couldn't stop watching after that. The story is both tragic and uplifting - but most of all it's compelling to watch once you get started.

Storywise, it starts out with a mother who commits suicide by placing her car in front of an approaching train. The train engineer makes a judgment call to hit the car instead of risking a sudden stop. Eventually, her son finds his way into the lives of the engineer and his terminally ill wife... and the story progresses from there.

The story itself is unusual and that made it a somewhat novel experience. The acting is amazing - esp. by Marcia Gay Harden (the ill wife). It's definitely a show worth watching if you're looking for a well-done drama.

To often humans seek out comfort in the embrace of another. It's natural and necessary if we want to remain human. However, the price we pay is terrible when giving our love to parents, loved ones and close friends. In addition, tragic events add to our loss when inexplicably we lose those who are close to us. This film encompasses such a tragic loss when Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) is at the controls of his train when Laura Danner (Bonnie Root), a suicidal mother parks her car upon the tracks and awaits death with her son. Despite his best efforts, Stark is unable to prevent the accident. The woman is killed and her son Davey Danner (Miles Heizer) blames her death on the engineer. With the accident troubling his mind, Stark is further burdened with his ailing wife who is dying of cancer. In addition, Davey becomes an orphan, sent to a foster home from which he runs away from and seeks refuge with Stark and (Marcia Harden) his sickly wife. The story is deeply complex and extremely ladened with anxiety, conflicting emotion and troubling situations. It attempts to intertwine both family understanding and compassion grief. Although Kevin Bacon is superb in his acting and is ably supported by Miles who is equally great, some selected scenes are slow to develop, morosely dark and too often the audience is hampered with confused and poorly directed endings. Nevertheless, the story is awash with deep feelings and emotional surges which confront human beings everyday. ***

Mostly from beginning to end this movie is a train wreck of misery and grief.Everyone feels very sorry for themselves. It starts with a train driver who has a wife who is dying of cancer; then a manic fatally ill woman wants to kill herself and son on a train line.

Tie up these events as like minded seem to attract each other. And so it goes on.... Can a child save the driver and wife from their self pity? Will there be some respite from all the sorry!? Hmmm.

Kevin Bacon is a fine actor but I thought his performance here was less than perfect.This movie is salvaged by the acting of Marcia Gay Harden and the kid Miles Heizer who vie between themselves to steal the show.

Those people who want movies full of tears and sadness may enjoy(endure) this one.

5 and a half out of ten rounded up hence:

6/10.

The movie was very heart wrenching. It is all very real for everyone in the audience, thanks to Patricia Hayden's superb portrayal of a woman ready to give up the fight.

The only issue I had with the movie lies in the boy who lost his mother to suicide - he goes on to blame the train conductor! Violent fits of rage both directly after the accident, and midway through the movie when he seeks homage. The sons knows as soon as his mother parks her car on the tracks what she is trying to do. He tries in vein to pull her from the car. The train is already coming too fast - however he feels that it's not basic physics, rather someones fault.

Now, it's possible that the boy - after losing his mother - is looking to blame someone - anyone - for this tradegy. That is a common coping mechanism. However there's no way that the coping mechanism kicks in minutes after the accident. When you see the kid in the first 10 minutes of the movie being forcibly restrained by police officers trying to go-for-throat on the conductor, you can't help but to begin to begin to dislike the child (not totally).

However, whatever redeeming qualities there are in the boy go out the window when he rejects hospitality from what looks like a temporary foster home. He does not smoothly make the transition from poor kid losing his mom to adopted child of this new couple. He risks almost becoming a protagonist within the first 20 minutes of the movie.

I believe the writers could have created another vehicle for the boy to intrude himself into the train conductor's life other than blind rage towards a man who was just doing his job. Or, if they kept that vehicle, more should have been done in the way of exploring the boy's grief. Either way, cut out the scenes that force the audience into either disliking the boy or thinking there's something perhaps mentally awry with him.

6 out of 10 stars

Maybe some say this is a typical "woman movie". I'd not say so, but there surely is a tendency towards women more appreciating it than the men. It's not, however, much of a love story, it's a rather bittersweet tale with ASTONISHING ACTORS from A to Z.

It's a movie that makes you feel human. You'll most probably shed some tears and laugh at some of the subtle jokes, some will do so more than others, but all in all it's not a dramatic hell rise like in BREAKING THE WAVES, though Bacon's character surely is a guy you'd like to kick in the butt just to 'wake up' or something. But then, the end comes.

I can recommend that if you're out for a softer, heart-felt DVD experience.

If not for the powerful performances from Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden I don't think I would have made it through this. It's an okay indie-drama with an interesting premise, following a deadly collision between a car and a train which leads to an unlikely bond between the train engineer (responsible) and the young boy who escapes the carnage.

The story comes together pretty believably considering the events but lagged a bit in the middle while we watch Bacon care for his cancer-stricken wife and the new member of his family. This is also one of those movies with an ending that leaves it up to you to decide what happened next. Hate those. 06.13

This is quite a brave production for its year of release. It features some convincing dialogue within its unusual situations, and offers sensitive direction, excellent cinematography, and superb performances from its interesting cast. The events it examines are highly emotional and might not suit some people, but the professionalism of the cast and the mature approach to Israeli born Micky Levy's dialogue carry it through some shaky plot devices.

Alison Eastwood shows a gentler approach to direction than her rather boisterous father, bringing in a professional outcome - especially getting a fully convincing performance from young Miles Heizer. Even with some odd logic within certain events portrayed, it's a very human picture.