Review: Emily Blunt Makes 'Girl on the Train' Worth Seeing

— -- Starring Emily Blunt and Justin Theroux

Rated R

Three and a half out of five stars

Based on the bestselling psychological thriller by Paula Hawkins, "The Girl on the Train" stars Emily Blunt as Rachel, who has a cornucopia of issues.

Rachel lives outside New York City and commutes there by train. On her daily train trip through communities along the Hudson River, she peers out of the window, most notably at the house where she used to live with her ex-husband, Tom (Justin Theroux). He now lives in the house with his new wife, Anna, (Rebecca Ferguson), and their baby. Rachel also watches a neighbors’ house and fantasizes about the life of the aesthetically pleasing couple who lives there, becoming mostly focused on Megan (Haley Bennett).

Rachel is also a raging alcoholic, who stalks Tom and Anna -- and not just by looking at their house from the train. She shows up in their neighborhood and constantly checks out Tom’s Facebook page.

We get glimpses into Anna and Megan’s lives, too. Megan served as Anna and Tom’s nanny, and her husband, Scott (Luke Evans), is trying to pressure Megan into having a baby. Rachel assumes Megan and Scott are the perfect couple, but Megan’s in therapy and seems to have the hots for her therapist.

As Rachel’s alcoholism deepens, she sees something that sends her into a tailspin, and she appears poised to take out her anger on Megan. Then Megan winds up dead.

There’s an absolutely absurd aspect to this story. I did not read the book but the way Rachel stalks Tom and Anna here would never, ever fly. Tom defends Rachel’s behavior and prevents Anna from taking action against her, but Rachel’s actions are absolutely, 100-percent indefensible. To watch this movie and believe Anna would agree to never take any sort of legal action against Rachel would be the same as watching Star Wars and taking it for granted that the force is real.

There is one thing that helps in suspending disbelief: Emily Blunt’s tour de force performance. She’s nothing short of amazing, losing herself in a complex character who shouldn’t be likable but is grounded in something very real and human, demanding our empathy.

Director Tate Taylor, who’s also given us "The Help" and "Get On Up," doesn’t always strike the right tone, on occasion turning a psychological thriller into a Calvin Klein Obsession commercial. But Blunt’s performance makes "The Girl on the Train" worth your while.