Rails & Ties (2007)
Average Rating: 4.5/10
Reviews Counted: 48
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 32
Despite the strong cast, Rails & Ties is an emotionally overwrought, not entirely believable melodrama.
Average Rating: 4.1/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 18
Despite the strong cast, Rails & Ties is an emotionally overwrought, not entirely believable melodrama.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 9,998
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Movie Info
Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, and Miles Heizer star in director Alison Eastwood's tale of two families locked into an emotional -- and physical -- collision course. There once was a time when Tom and Megan Stark had all the time in the world to take their dream vacation and start a family, but these days the couple's marriage is suffering and their time appears to be running short. Megan has been diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness, and when the prospect of losing his wife becomes
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Kevin Bacon
Tom Stark -
Marcia Gay Harden
Megan Stark -
Miles Heizer
Davey Danner -
Marin Hinkle
Renee -
Eugene Byrd
Otis Higgs -
Bonnie Root
Laura Danncer -
Steve Eastin
N.B. Garcia -
Laura Ceron
Susan Garcia -
Margo Martindale
Judy Neasy -
Kathryn Joosten
Mrs. Brown -
Steven M. Porter
Howie Pugh -
Jim Cody Williams
Vince the Engineer -
Kerri Randles
Rosanna -
J. Stephen Peace
Bartender -
Robert Harvey
Administrator #1 -
Michael Otis
Administrator #2 -
Ernest Harden Jr.
Official #1 -
Mike McCaul
Official #2 -
Maya Goldsmith
Sheila -
Michael Raynor
Detective Christian Fox -
Micky Levy
Detective Ann Crane -
John Nielsen
Dr. Offenberger -
Dennis Napolitano
Piano Teacher -
Mary Beth McDade
News Reporter -
Brian Bogulski
Workman #1 -
Jade Marx
Nurse #1 -
Nathan Kornelis
Father -
Dalton Stumbo
Child
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Rails & Ties Trailer & Photos
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (33) | DVD (2)
It's hard to get over the implausibility of the premise in Micky Levy's script, even though the characters themselves acknowledge that they're in a ridiculous situation.
Top CriticThere's just not much here to recommend at all.
One highly unlikely circumstance after another become laughable, preventing you from being moved by the family tragedies depicted. They beg for tears, but a script this chock-full of holes is unlikely to elicit the desired effect.
I think somehow the filmmakers lost the way, lost sight of the people inside the plot.
All the astute acting in the world can't bring such a preposterous story into the station on time and intact.
While it features three strong performance and the debut of a promising filmmaker, the story line is obvious and rather melodramatic.
In common with her famous actor/filmmaker father, Ms. Eastwood seems to have an instinctual grasp of the petty grievances and triumphs of working-class American life.
Feels so forced and determined to convey a certain emotion that its authenticity is lost. And when there's no sense of authenticity, there's no emotional attachment.
Kevin Bacon turns in a solid, attention grabbing performance as a rigid, scornful man in a deep funk just trying to cling to a familiar world disintegrating all around him.
Kevin Bacon turns in a solid, attention grabbing performance as a rigid, scornful man in a deep funk just trying to cling to a familiar world disintegrating all around him.
DVD is the perfect place for a movie like Rails & Ties. Somehow it's easier to block out the often forced nature of the plot and just enjoy the rich performances and the humane themes.
Alison Eastwood has created a film of quiet delicacy, something fragile yet resolute, and shot through with a life affirming thread that is brave enough to suggest that sometimes life does indeed blossom from tragedy.
The metaphors flow almost as freely as the tears in this sentimental weepie.
Everyone involved will move on to bigger and better things and leave this series of unfortunate events behind on the tracks, waiting for a midnight train to put it out of its considerable misery.
The younger Eastwood tells her story with sledgehammer blows.
Either an unsuccessfully manipulative, sappy melodrama or the most deranged concept for a family sitcom anyone has ever developed.
It's not all bad.
In the right hands, this might be the stuff of compelling cinema. Instead, Rails and Ties sinks into melodrama.
Audience Reviews for Rails & Ties
When the 11 year-old son of that suicidal mother comes to Tom's house to accuse him of killing his mom, Megan sort-of adopts him - and perhaps all three of them can begin to heal.
Super Reviewer
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