REV M VINCENT TURNER Sadly, Jeremy Irvine did not get top billing in the media, as did Firth and Kidman. Frankly, Irvine as the young Lieutenant Eric Lomax makes this movie.Irvine's torture and torment in the POW camp run by the Japanese during WWII is portrayed with shocking intensity. It is no secret to those of us who know even a smidgen about the Japanese in WWII how outrageously and ungodly cruel and inhumane they were.Colin Firth as the aging Lomax gives a good performance, but he is more reflective whereas Irvine as the younger Lomax is reactive, rebellious and exceedingly strong.Nicole Kidman has always possessed a special beauty. She portrays her role well as at first the lover and then as Firth's wife. She is pensive, concerning and very, very genuine in her role.I believe that Jeremy Irvine received lesser billing in written follow ups to this movie because of the celebrity of Firth and Kidman. That is sorely disappointing, because Irvine IS the core of this entire movie. I came upon this movie only lately, as a result of seeing Irvine in "The War Horse" and then "Stonewall". He is a stunning young man with extraordinary talent with uncommon acting versatility.

tonypeacock-1 Moving drama based on the WWII experiences of Eric Lomax a Prisoner of War forced to work on a railway in Burma following the fall of Singapore to the Japanese.Lomax is played in two time-lines by Jeremy Irvine in the war and Colin Firth in his older years.He and his colleagues endure severe torture at the hands of their Japanese soldier captors forcing severe post traumatic stress disorder long after the war has ended.Lomax is a railway geek hence the title of the film. His demons come back to haunt him once he finds love with Patti (a rather boring Nicole Kidman) and the identity of one of his torturers is revealed as still being alive by wartime friend Finlay (Swedish Stellan Skarsgard). After travelling back to the site of his capture he finds forgiveness to the Japanese 'translator' soldier.The story is very interesting and emotional but the trouble with Colin Firth films I find is he plays pretty much the same character in all of them. A broody stiff upper lip Englishman. The film has a documentary feel like an episode of Michael Portillos Railway Journeys but on the whole provides a worthy film to watch.

secondtake The Railway Man (2013)Is this the definition of a sleeper? Here's a movie that no one talked about, and yet it is one of the more interesting, beautiful, and well done movies I've seen lately. But then, I'm inclined to like movies with surprises, with complex plots, and with lots of compelling scenes that work just for their visual and tactile audacity. There is plenty for me to like here. Even the very first scenes, which open with the delicacy of David Lean's "Brief Encounter," could blossom into a movie of its own. But wake up! This is just the prelude to the nightmare. All the personal and historical twists and turns will keep you startled and saddened and then, in a believable wooosh, thrilled. Colin Firth is the one who lifts it all up a notch, bringing Nicole Kidman's strong performance in line, and adding the veritable excellence of Stellan Skarsgard. There are other layers (time periods) with strong acting as well, and all this interweaves past and present in a less than obvious way. By the end it makes sense, beautiful sense, and leaves you a bit shake, frankly (if you have been as absorbed as I was). I want to say no more. Part of the magic here is how it happens, how the sudden shifts take you by the arm and pull you into a new world. Watch this. A terrific movie.

vincentlynch-moonoi I usually don't "review" films which have already been reviewed more than 100 times, but I will this time because I was where part of this movie was filmed. The part of the film where they are building the railroad in the jungle was filmed in the area known as Hellfire Pass, northwest of the Bridge On The River Kwai, and adjacent to the River Kwai (which is actually pronounced like quack without the k). Unlike the film :The Bridge On The River Kwai", which was actually filmed in Ceylon and looked almost nothing like the actual bridge and river, this film is very accurately depicted. I could almost relive my hiking in that area quite a few years ago. This gives a far more realistic representation of how the western POWs were treated by the Japanese (at least based on the readings I have done).I give this film a lot of credit for the way in which they tell the story. It begins with a rather disheveled man on a British train who meets a beautiful British woman and they eventually get married. Then she learns why at times he is so distant or goes into his psychological MELTDOWNS -- what happened building the Death Railway from Bangkok to Burma.Fortunately, they don't attempt to make Colin Firth and the other actors look young and old, depending on what part of the story is being told. Colin Firth plays the mature main character (and brilliantly), and Jeremy Irvine plays the young main character (equally as brilliantly). Nicole Kidman plays the bewildered wife, and is excellent. Stellan Skarsgård, suddenly looking considerably older, plays a war time colleague who helps tell the story. Hiroyuki Sanada plays the old Japanese man who once tortured Firth, while Tanroh Ishida plays the war time torturer.I can only find one thing to criticize here and that is failing to show the true suffering that took place by the Western POWs as they were digging out of the rock Hellfire Pass. Many simply dropped over dead...little more than skeletons when they died. In other words, they didn't show half the horror that existed there (and if you doubt me, Google photographs of "death railway" and "hellfire pass").On the other hand, the all important scene between the old Firth and the old Japanese torturer is quite remarkable. Maybe it shows that some Japanese might have shown some remorse over what they did.For those who like historical films, this is a stunning piece of work. My father fought in the European theater, including with the troops who first went into Germany and found all the atrocities. He would never speak of that, and I only learned a bit about what he experienced after he died and I was going through his personal belongings. And this fact -- the not willing to talk about it -- is actually covered in the film. Few films give us any idea of how some some suffered in World War II. This film does.P.S. -- at the end of the film you get to see the real Bridge On The River Kwai and the real Hellfire Pass.