Train Dreams

What made Malick’s A Hidden Life much less successful than his other later works was how plot focused it was despite having some beauty to look at (of course there’s a lot of other factors[change of cinematographer etc] but the focus on “story” is the main one to me) and that’s kind of the aspect here I was annoyed by. Edgerton is great and so are some of the supports but I found it kind of boring in the ways it explored its humanity, its criticisms of an expanding America etc. For so much warmth found from the digital textures there was a coldness to everything else in a way that didn’t seem purposeful. It seemingly wanted to say something more than it really was. Borders on the saccharine especially the ending. But I do appreciate the appreciation the movie has for forgotten peoples of this country. The attempts to find what’s special in our own lives despite how minuscule our humanity is in the grand scheme of it