All of the elements which drove the artistic success of the modern suspenseful noir that was the book work against it as a movie. The book unfolds inextractably but slowly. The narrative perspective changes with different character's stories falling on atop the next. Much of the suspense happens within the cerebral folds of mostly the main character but often within the thoughts of other characters. The actual physical action occurs ends quickly and much happens offscreen. All of these elements make this story of a wildly unreliable narrator embroiled in a murder easy to translate into a movie. While noble, staying true to the book probably worked against the story in this case. Emily Blunt as the titular, divorced, barren alcoholic doesn't commit to a physical transformation suggested by the character in the book who slides from withsome young wife to bloated drunk between present day and flashback. Blunt needed to blunt her attractiveness more in the way Charlize Theron did in "Monster." The film treats the husband as a somewhat minor costar compared to his more central role in the book. The lack of getting to know him in the movie makes the ending less impactful and this is definitely story that lives or dies by the final reveal. In short, read the book, an engaging and well told tale.
Review of The Girl on the Train
