The Railway Man - B

Rated R, 116 minutes

"The Railway Man" a well-acted, compelling real-life war drama

Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman

The powerful new drama "The Railway Man"  is a poignant, if not slow-moving, real-life tale of British POWs during the war. It's also superbly acted by a pair of Oscar winners and a dashing newcomer. The film tells the true story of Eric Lomax (Colin Firth is the older Lomax newcomer and British actor Jeremy Irvine is the younger version), a British Army officer who is tormented as a prisoner of war at a Japanese labor camp during World War II. Decades later, Lomax and his beautiful love interest Patti (Nicole Kidman) discover that the Japanese interpreter responsible for much of his treatment is still alive. Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and based on Lomax's (who died in 2012) autobiography of the same name, it's a layered, often intense film aided by the fact it's true and from the low-key but measured performances of its leads, particularly Firth in another stellar performance. Both he and Kidman, believable in what is essentially a supporting part, are solid though the film has some slow spots and the best parts of the film are the ones told in flashback without the more recognizable leads, who are offscreen for what seems like long periods of time. Those sequences, featuring the POWs and some harsh torture scenes, are made more compelling by handsome newcomer and model Irvine in a breakout performance as the bright POW who receives the harshest treatment by the Japanese. That's saying something for this prestigious British-Australian production, which has some detailed production design, an intelligent script and two Oscar-winners. The affecting final act, which includes prisoner finally meeting up with one of his aged torturers (Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada), was changed for dramatic effect yet still adds some substance and a provocative layer to the film. "The Railway Man" is a well-acted, powerful and satisfactory tale of courage and survival, with added poignancy from the fact it's true.

Wes's Grade: B