Preteen Davey Danner (Miles Heizer) and Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) share a passion for trains. Davey is thrilled when his deeply depressed mother (Bonnie Root) tells him they are taking a car ride to watch the trains. It seems like a good outing to Davey who is basically the sole caretaker of his otherwise immobilized and emotionally remote mother.
While waiting for the train through Simi Valley, Davey is shocked when his mother suddenly pulls the car onto the tracks with the train within sight. He tries desperately to pull her from the vehicle in time but fails and can only save himself.
Tom Stark is the engineer of that train and is unable to stop the train in time without the possibility of derailment which would jeopardize many passengers. At the scene, Davey screams at Stark, blaming him for his mother's death and Stark, stunned and reeling from his own challenges, tries to make the boy understand that his mother took her own life and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
Returning home to his wife Megan (Marcia Gay Harden), who is dying of cancer, Stark withdraws further into himself with the guilt of the accident, the grief of losing his wife and being part of the death of another woman.
Davey, sent to a foster home by social worker Renee (Marin Hinkle), escapes from the rigid and mean foster mother with every intent of hunting down Stark. The clever boy finds out where Stark lives and goes there. Despite his initial rage, Davey is comforted tenderly by the childless Megan and remains with the Starks.
Together, the man and the boy come to terms with their grief and forge an unusual friendship.
The directorial debut of Alison Eastwood, daughter of Clint Eastwood.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, an accident scene, brief nudity and momentary strong language.
My personal rating: C
While waiting for the train through Simi Valley, Davey is shocked when his mother suddenly pulls the car onto the tracks with the train within sight. He tries desperately to pull her from the vehicle in time but fails and can only save himself.
Tom Stark is the engineer of that train and is unable to stop the train in time without the possibility of derailment which would jeopardize many passengers. At the scene, Davey screams at Stark, blaming him for his mother's death and Stark, stunned and reeling from his own challenges, tries to make the boy understand that his mother took her own life and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
Returning home to his wife Megan (Marcia Gay Harden), who is dying of cancer, Stark withdraws further into himself with the guilt of the accident, the grief of losing his wife and being part of the death of another woman.
Davey, sent to a foster home by social worker Renee (Marin Hinkle), escapes from the rigid and mean foster mother with every intent of hunting down Stark. The clever boy finds out where Stark lives and goes there. Despite his initial rage, Davey is comforted tenderly by the childless Megan and remains with the Starks.
Together, the man and the boy come to terms with their grief and forge an unusual friendship.
The directorial debut of Alison Eastwood, daughter of Clint Eastwood.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, an accident scene, brief nudity and momentary strong language.
My personal rating: C
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