Man on the Train
Paramount Classics | Release Date: May 9, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Goes from good to great in 90 minutes, and then it's over, except that it's really not, because this small masterwork grows even deeper and more affecting as it takes up permanent residence in your memory.
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Man on the Train may be a modest film, but it offers privileged glimpses of transcendence. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Leconte brings his film to transcendent closure without relying on stale plot devices or the clanking of the plot. He resorts to a kind of poetry. After the film is over, you want to sigh with joy, that in this rude world such civilization is still possible. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
This moody, progressively enthralling little French psychodrama is very much it's own thing: a boldly conceived, impeccably crafted and wonderfully enigmatic two-character study that turns out to be a most powerful showcase for its two stars. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
In an unassuming way, the film sizzles -- a perfect embodiment, as it happens, of the marriage of the bad man and the man of letters. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Piquant, thoroughly engaging character drama. Read full review
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
What a good movie. Sometimes you get tired of 'splaining and you just want to say: Hey, this one's really very good. That's all, folks. It's a damn good movie. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Their calm assurance -- Hallyday as a grizzled icon, Rochefort as a melancholy mensch -- is a pleasure to behold. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Schickel
An elegantly polished little film. Read full review
90
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The essence of the film is that French gambit which Leconte has called "the magic of the unlikely encounter. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Unobtrusively satisfying. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
In the end, what the movie is about: time and life, and what we do with them, and what we regret that we didn't do. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Both actors are marvelous, and the film, low-key but heartfelt, is a gem. Read full review
80
SalonCharles Taylor
Watching Man on the Train is like coming across one of those threadbare Persian rugs you see on public tours of private homes. Its elegance is more comfortable than cold, and it carries its worn, battered mien proudly. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Mr. Leconte gives this meeting of opposites in Claude Klotz's script a lovely, sportive élan, instead of making it register as lumpy, obvious polemics. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
The comedy-drama hinges on the captivating dynamic between the two men, combining gentle humor and charm with a melancholy undercurrent of yearning. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Far from a spontaneous movie -- the passage of this relationship is mapped from the get-go -- but it is warm and deep, and its visual style bespeaks a new maturity in Leconte. Read full review
80
Film ThreatRobert Learner
For those who find that most “life-affirming’ films leave them nauseous and sometimes angry, Man on the Train is a miracle of genuine uplift working with two characters probably fated to die. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The film doesn't have much of a narrative, and the ending is a little too mystical, but there's still plenty here to engage the attention of all but the most restless of movie-goers. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A thinking man's buddy movie. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Taps into the same emotional current that sustains the entire "buddy picture" genre, but does so with feeling and unmistakable insight. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Heartfelt performances make up for some stodgy dialogue and corny moments, though. And it's nice to know some filmmakers still have a foot firmly planted in old-fashioned humanistic storytelling. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The movie -- simple, pure and powerful -- makes us feel the intensity of both life in transit and life lived, if only for a moment, in another's skin. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
By film's end, Leconte has made you believe these disparate men inhabit the same soul: The chasm between them is a matter of paths not taken. Read full review
75
PremiereAaron Hillis
The true sensory delight is when the two men share screen time, and the palette is bombarded with their contrasting hues, the score (by Pascal Esteve) even meticulously interlacing their two musical personalities. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
As a filmmaker, he (Leconte) doesn't have anything profound to say but does say his something with craft, visual flair and professionalism. Depending on your mood, that can be either too little or just enough. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
Leconte lacks the austerity to complete a film in which nothing much occurs. And so, with some reluctance, we are bustled toward a climax. [12 May 2003, p. 82]
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
As in many a French movie, especially crime movie, the philosophe and the crook turn out to be each other’s mirror image. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The excellently translated subtitles retain the wit and flavor of the brisk, at times even hardboiled, dialogue. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
A slender thing, with a perversely undernourished color scheme: grainy blue exteriors and old-time sepia interiors. The fullness comes from the faces of its two protagonists. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The premise, the structure, and the men-at-twilight conversation in Patrice Leconte's ingratiating drama feel cloyingly predetermined at times, but the sight of Hallyday and Rochefort luxuriating in their contrasting manly personas is a kick. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
One of the small pleasures of the movie is likely to escape American audiences. The bank robber is played by Johnny Hallyday, a pop icon of great magnitude in France, and the old man is played by Jean Rochefort, an acting staple of that country's cinema. The mere juxtaposition of these two personalities forms a comic set of expectations. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
There's the air of sadness and worry all over this movie, and sometimes it's heavy. But it's air all the same. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Loses something in its transposition to America where the two leads are not nearly as widely known as they are in their home country of France. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Though an assured and diverting piece of filmmaking, Man On The Train sags from complacency, rarely breaking its neat construction to animate the friendship with any real warmth and life. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Collapses in a heap of affirmational outbursts and metaphysical goop. The fond chemistry between the leads deserves a better movie. Read full review
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