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The most masterful study of a man’s seemingly simplistic life tries to make sense of the underlying tragic and fateful circumstances he has long faced. Instead of placing blame for his difficult situations on others, he accepts his life’s mystery with a hard-earned grace. Joel Edgerton’s protagonist of Robert Grainier in the new drama, Train Dreams, embraces that journey of self-preservation through all phases of his life.

Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy and Nathaniel Arcand join Edgerton in the film. Clint Bentley directed the screen adaptation, which is based on the 2011 novella of the same name by Denis Johnson.

The helmer also co-scribed the script with his creative partner of more than a decade, Greg Kwedar.  The duo most recently penned the 2023 prison drama, Sing Sing, together. After the movie’s release, they were nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Oscars ceremony.

Train Dreams follows the life of Robert, a laborer whose life bears witness to several decades of profound change and social upheaval. Actor Will Patton offers a third-person narration about the main character’s life. After becoming orphaned as a child, he begins working as a logger and railroad worker in the Pacific Northwest.

©Courtesy of Netflix

Robert mostly keeps to himself, observing the behavior, and mulling over the words, of others, often finding gentle humor. Among his fellow loggers is Apostle Frank (Schneider), who often fills in Robert’s quiet moments.

But the man who’s had the most influence on Richard’s logging career is Arn Peeples (Macy). Arn is an explosives expert who’s usually the oldest man on each job. Arn is also a talkative man who often discusses how the work not only physically draining, but also emotionally taxing.

Though he experiences hardships on the job, periods of ecstatic joy, including his courtship with Gladys (Jones) also shape Robert’s life. After they marry, they have a daughter, which gives him the family he has always dreamed of but never had.

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Robert subsequently looks back on his family’s years in their remote cabin as the happiest time of his life. But having seen a large amount of violence and death in his years as a logger, he’s tormented by the feeling that more pain is following him, and he’s destined for punishment. His profound love and equally crushing sorrow radically defines the rest of his life.

Train Dreams, which marks Bentley’s sophomore directorial feature, is a striking evolution from his debut movie, the 2021 drama, Jockey. Where his first film was an intimate, contemporary character study, the protagonist’s story in the follow-up is more expansive and classic.

Bentley and Kwedar’s latest screenplay further stands out for intertwining more elements of humor, brutality and sudden beauty than its source material. But overall, the filmmakers’ story channels Johnson’s tonal paradoxes, notably chronicling small stories in Robert’s overall life that carry the most significance in his life.

Much of Train Dreams power in telling Robert’s overarching story comes from the crew’s engaging, enduring craftsmanship. Bryce Dessner, for instance, crafted a cascading score that emphasizes Robert’s moods, whether he was feeling plaintive, ruminative or ecstatic.

Cinematographer Adolpho Veloso, meanwhile, shot the movie in a 3:2 aspect ratio that’s reminiscent of early photographic plates. The camera gracefully highlights the grandeur in both remote forests and mountainsides.

©Courtesy of Netflix

The superb acting, particularly from Edgerton, and an overall finely crafted set of characters from a far-away, bygone era drive the movie’s storytelling, which complements the visuals. The passage of time is both fluid and stalled in Bentley’s soulful adaptation of Johnson’s novella.

The drama ambles over moments of not only joy and success, but also lonesomeness and devastating sadness. The script further thrives on its ability to highlight mundane experiences that become significant later in the story.

Edgerton carries the cumulative weight of all his character’s decisions and emotions that drive his ordinary life. That effort proves the role is amongst the Golden Globe-nominated actor’s best work of his career.