Patrice Leconte's Man on the Train is a slow-paced study of two unlikely friends who envy the other's way of life. Manesquier, strikingly portrayed by French film star Jean Rochefort, is a loquacious ex-poetry teacher and Milan, (French rock n' roll star Johnny Hallyday) is a thief who regrets not having lived a more respectable life. Based on the screenplay by Claude Klotz, the film has its amusing and thoughtful moments, however I found the relationship implausible and the dialogue "literary" and forced.
Milan arrives by train in a small French town at the beginning of winter to meet up with his associates and rob the local bank. He meets Manesquier at a drug store and the two strike up a conversation. When Milan discovers that the only hotel in town is closed, Manesquier invites him to spend a few days with him in his Victorian house that has become rundown since his mother died fifteen years. Not much happens in the way of action but their exchanges reveal that each has become dissatisfied and wants to switch identities with the other. Manesquier puts on Milan's leather jacket and poses before the mirror, thinking of himself as gunslinger Wyatt Earp. Milan, on the other hand, longs for a life of stability and ease, feeling comfortable in a pair of the teacher's slippers.
The day of the planned bank robbery coincides with Manesquier's scheduled triple bypass heart surgery and as the days lead up to this event, both men act more and more like the other. Manesquier practices with Milan's guns at a shooting range and goes looking for a fight at a local bar while Milan takes on the task of teaching one of his friend's young pupils. While the ending has a metaphysical quality that I really enjoyed, on the whole I found Man on The Train to be devoid of energy and the conversations lacking in the warmth and spontaneity of real life.
Milan arrives by train in a small French town at the beginning of winter to meet up with his associates and rob the local bank. He meets Manesquier at a drug store and the two strike up a conversation. When Milan discovers that the only hotel in town is closed, Manesquier invites him to spend a few days with him in his Victorian house that has become rundown since his mother died fifteen years. Not much happens in the way of action but their exchanges reveal that each has become dissatisfied and wants to switch identities with the other. Manesquier puts on Milan's leather jacket and poses before the mirror, thinking of himself as gunslinger Wyatt Earp. Milan, on the other hand, longs for a life of stability and ease, feeling comfortable in a pair of the teacher's slippers.
The day of the planned bank robbery coincides with Manesquier's scheduled triple bypass heart surgery and as the days lead up to this event, both men act more and more like the other. Manesquier practices with Milan's guns at a shooting range and goes looking for a fight at a local bar while Milan takes on the task of teaching one of his friend's young pupils. While the ending has a metaphysical quality that I really enjoyed, on the whole I found Man on The Train to be devoid of energy and the conversations lacking in the warmth and spontaneity of real life.