Deidra & Laney Rob a Train

A combination of drama and teen adventure. It is about sisters who steal trains when their mother suffers a crisis and is imprisoned. An interesting movie. Current. How far would you be able to go to support and save your family? It is a moral premise that you question throughout the film, they steal to eat and stay together. Is it justifiable? Entertaining. Quality. With pleasant and funny moments. Addresses the importance of family and support.

My 5 might be a tad generous. But the film boasts some likable characters played well by the principals. But the premise? The script? All shot through with more plot holes than can be listed here. Some of the scenes are downright impossible, let alone believable. And the film is too long. The beauty pageant angle could have been jettisoned. Would have cut ten minutes off the run time and tightened up the film considerably.

Not a great film. Not even a good one. But, as I noted, the main characters are intriguing and even ingratiating. They make the film watchable.

Deidra & Laney Rob a Train is one heart-warming, entertaining film that one needs from time to time. I found myself rooting for the lead characters all the way.

The film is something of a feel- good vibe where not everything will feel plausible, but it's very easy to forgive because by then you'll be heavily invested in the characters. And the feel-good vibe also does not mean there aren't heavier issues handled with great care and heart. I was definitely tearing up in one scene. Ashleigh Murray is amazing as Deidra, the future Valedictorian who's left to take care of her sister and brother while their mom is in jail. She's very charismatic and was more than capable of carrying the film. I hope to see her in more good roles like this one. Rachel Crow, Danielle Nicolet and Sasheer Zamata were also such pleasures to watch in their respective roles. Missi Pyle also deserves a mention!

I love my RACHEL in this movie , ever since I saw her singing debut on whatever singing show I saw her on as a child! She is the best ...but other than that... this is a take it or leave it type of flick. The "felon father" was probably the best acting role in the movie imo.

...And I don't care to hear kids cussing...and cussing... and cussing...

"Deidra and Laney Rob a Train" is set in a non-descript town where almost no one goes to college, the local rail yard doesn't pay a sustainable wage, and signs of the town's glory days have littered the town's visual landscape. There's a lot of talk lately about showing more people of minority races on TV but this is a film that shows a landscape of economic depression that doesn't discriminate against people of either color. The two protagonists are bi-racial and neither their African-American mother nor their white father can make enough to provide them a brighter future (though points go to mom for trying quite a bit harder).

When the titular characters' mother gets incarcerated, they decide to rob the insides of slow-moving freight trains to raise money for their bail. The film gets interesting when exploring the dangers and logistics of such an act. Like a lot of the film, the appeal is in exploring a corner of Americana that has been right under your eyes most of your life.

Deidra and Laney are astereotpical with the elder sister being an overachiever in school and Laney being angst-filled and Laney filled with a mixture of angst and a desire to fit in. She's bullied quite a bit and these scenes are perhaps the cruelest in the film to stomach if you haven't seen much of this genre. The film is filled with a few familiar faces (Sasheer Zamata of "Saturday Night Live", Missi Pyle, and Tim Blake Nelson) but mostly thrives on new talent and these actresses have a lot of room to surprise us.

It's a worthwhile watch.