Mysteries of life flow through 'Train Dreams'

"'Train Dreams' is the kind of movie that people often say they want more of, but when one actually comes along they don't quite know what to do with it.

- MARK OLSEN

Netflix JOEL EDGERTON portrays a logger and railroad worker in the early and mid-20th century "Train Dreams."

Told with an unassuming, gentle simplicity that grows into an accumulating emotional power, the film manages to feel very small and specific while also vast and expansive.

It pokes around in some of the great mysteries of humanity what gives a life meaning or purpose? - in a way that feels lyrical, lovely and never unduly ponderous. There is something special about "Train Dreams" even as its builtin modesty makes it feel awkward to lavish it with excess praise.

An adaptation of a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson, the film is directed by Clint Bentley, who co-wrote the screenplay with Greg Kwedar. The duo were recently nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay to the prison drama "Sing Sing," but it is their earlier project "The Jockey" that this feels more in line with, full of evocative photography and quiet moments heavy with deeper meaning.