Joel Edgerton is starring as Robert Grainier in the movie adaptation of Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, Train Dreams. Johnson’s work was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but it was originally published in the 2002 issue of The Paris Review. While the late author wrote the novella after living in the woods for some time, the story has no roots in real-life events.
The novella tells the story of Grainier, a lumberjack and railroad worker in the Pacific Northwest. It details his life of hermitage and his pain of losing loved ones, while also detailing his struggle to find his place in the new world. He was married to the love of his life, Gladys, and had a daughter, Kate. But he lost them in a forest fire and sank into a life of isolation.
Adapting Train Dreams for the screen was a challenging task for director Clint Bentley and his creative partner, Greg Kwedar. Bentley revealed to Tudum that they stayed in a cabin at the location where Edgerton’s Grainier lived and met a few loggers in the area. He shared:
It was a really unique writing process and really rewarding. I wanted to make sure that we were completely loyal to the spirit of the book that Denis had written, but also let the story take its own path to become the movie that it needed to be. It was a constant exploration of trying to find what that balance was.
The film comes across as a beautiful character study of Grainier, whose life, right from his orphaned childhood to his deathbed, is covered in a delicate manner. In the midst of the crass and loud-mouthed lumberjacks, Grainier is a man of few words. He becomes friends with the likes of Arn, who shares his wisdom with Grainier.
Grainier’s sad tale, combined with Will Patton’s narration, makes for a tactile story that could easily be one of the best movies this year. Edgerton put forth an Oscar-worthy performance in the movie.
Joel Edgerton’s Train Dreams Compared to Denis Johnson’s Original Novella
What makes Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams a challenging work to adapt into a movie is the decades-long story covered in it. The story begins when an orphaned Idaho kid arrives in Washington state. The readers are then taken through his life, including his marriage to his wife, Gladys.
The movie casts Felicity Jones in the role of Gladys. The movie portrays Grainier’s marriage to Gladys and his worries about being away from her and their young daughter for days at a time. The movie portrays Kate as a two-year-old as opposed to four months old in the novella.
When Gladys and Kate die in a forest fire when Grainier is away, it hits hard for the protagonist. While the deaths of his wife and daughter change Grainier’s life in the novella, the movie makes it the only major factor that shapes him. They are brought back to him in constant flashbacks and his wild imagination.
The movie also completely drops the wolf-girl story from the novella. In the movie, a child appears at Grainier’s cabin whom he believes to be Kate. It is an actual child, as opposed to the disfigured animal-like child described in the novella.
The movie also skips over or completely changes some of the brutal storylines that affect Grainier. At one point, Grainier encounters a dying tramp who confesses to s*xually assaulting his niece and getting her pregnant, which resulted in her death.
Another storyline is that of Kootenai Bob, Grainier’s Native American neighbor, who gets killed after being run over by trains when he got drunk for the first time. The fate of Bob was left out of the movie. All we got was the character of Ignatius Jack, played by Nathaniel Arcand, who plays the storekeeper and Grainier’s friend.
Joel Edgerton and His Co-Stars Were Brilliant in Bringing the Characters to the Screen
Joel Edgerton’s performance as Robert Grainier carries the movie forward. The actor is raw, deep, and delicate in the movie, making his performance etched in the memories of the viewers for a long time. The character expresses more with his face than his words. Edgerton nailed the role, portraying the layers of feelings within the character.
Edgerton was also an executive producer on the film, and according to Bentley, was “such a great partner to have” during the filming. The actor shared about his role with Tudum:
I remember realizing that sometimes the people really worth listening to are the ones that only choose to speak when it’s really important. That people of few words often can be very potent and fascinating to watch.
Bentley shared that Felicity Jones brought “heart to the film.” He shared, “Every scene she’s in is like a breath of fresh air.” Jones loved playing the character, sharing, “There’s something very elemental in her. You feel that she’s very at home in nature.”
William H. Macy as Arn Peeples was a great addition to the cast. He was one of those people whom Grainier met along his journey. In his brief appearance, his character imparts his wisdom and offers Grainier a new perspective on the world. Macy shared about his character, “[He’s] a poet. He’s a philosopher; he’s a sluggard. He’s mature, he’s older. He’s got wisdom. I’d like to hang out with Arn Peeples.”
Kerry Condon plays a Forest Service worker, Claire Thompson, who meets Grainier when she comes to work in a fire tower in the woods. Condon’s character also dealt with solitude after the passing of her husband. The actress shared about her role:
There was quite a lonely existence and there was a lot of solitude. And that appealed to me, that part of Claire. Because she was comfortable with the solitude, she was at ease with it.
The moments between Grainier and Claire are too real and incredibly painful in the movie. Train Dreams showed the duality of solitude with these two characters.
What do you think of Edgerton’s latest movie, Train Dreams? Let us know in the comments below!
Train Dreams is now streaming on Netflix.
